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Teutonic Mythology
Gods and Godde
of the N
By
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IAHJAV
Ph.D.,
yjd Qwtdofe «n motl) '
Jaoiiifl) wodnijn sdj lo
sd riw rHiw
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J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.
MANAGINO K D1TOR.
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oaorfj ani
VOL. n.
NORRCENA SOCIETY,
, NHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK
1906
VALKYRIES BRINGING THE BODY OF A SLAIN
WARRIOR TO VALHALLA.
(From an etching by I. ore it:. Frulicli.)
HEIMDAL, the god of light, father of men, sire of kings, wa
warder of the gates of Valhalla and lived in a castle at tht
end of the rainbow (Bifrost bridge). He possessed a trumpet
called Gjallarhorn with which he summoned together the gods at
Ragnarok. He is represented as the zealous gate-keeper win
received and admitted to Valhalla the bodies of warriors slait
in battle, when brought hence by Valkyrie maidens who gath
ered them from battle-fields. Valhalla was the abode of Odin
in Asgard which was situated in Gladsheim, the valley of joy
In this paradise dead warriors were revived and spent all after
time righting, feasting and drinking as the guests of Odin, pur
suing those pleasures that most delighted them when in the flesh
Teutonic Mythology
Gods and Goddesses
of the Northland
IN
THREE VOLUMES
By VIKTOR RYDBBRG, PH.D.,
MEMBER OF THE SWEDISH ACADEMY; AUTHOR OF "THE LAST ATHENIAN'
AND OTHER WORKS.
AUTHORISED TRANSLATION FROM THE SWEDISH
BY
RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D.,
EX-TJNITED STATES MINISTER TO DENMARK; AUTHOR OF "NORSE
MYTHOIAJGY," " VIKING TALES," ETC.
HON. RASMUS B. ANDERSON, LL.D., Ph.D.,
EDITOR IN CHIEF.
J. W. BUEL, Ph.D.
MANAGING EDITOR.
VOL. II.
ITTBLISHED BY THE
NORRCENA SOCIETY,
LONDON COPENHAGEN STOCKHOLM BERLIN NEW YORK
1906
'3
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
VOLUME TWO
Page
Myth in Regard to the Lower World 353
Myth Concerning Mimer's Grove 379
Mimer's Grove and Regeneration of the World 389
Gylfaginning's Cosmography 395
The Word Hel in Linguistic Usage 406
Border Mountain Between Hel and Nifelhel 414
Description of Nifelhel 426
Who the Inhabitants of Hel are 440
The Classes of Beings in Hel 445
The Kingdom of Death 447
Valkyries, Psycho-messengers of Diseases 457
The Way of Those who Fall by the Sword 462
Risting with the Spear-point 472
Loke's Daughter, Hel 476
Way to Hades Common to the Dead 482
The Doom of the Dead 485
The Looks of the Thingstead 505
The Hades Drink 514
The Hades Horn Embellished with Serpents 521
Page
The Lot of the Blessed 528
Arrival at the Na-gates 531
The Places of Punishment 534
The Hall in Nastrands 540
Loke's Cave of Punishment 552
The Great World-Mill 565
The World-Mill makes the Constellations Revolve 579
Origin of the Sacred Fire 586
Mundilfore's Identity with Lodur 601
Nat, Mother of the Gods 608
Narfi, Nat's Father 611
Giant Clans Descended from Ymer 624
Identity of Mimer and Nidhad 630
Review of Mimer's Names and Epithets 641
The Mead Myth 644
The Moon and the Mead 669
Myths of the Moon-God 680
LIST OF PHOTOGRAVURES.
VOL. II.
Frontispiece — Valkyries Bringing the Body of a Slain
Warrior to Valhalla.
Page
Thor Destroys the Giant Thrym 456
The Punishment of Loke 552
Gefion and King Gylphi 616
THE MYTH IN REGARD TO THE
LOWER WORLD.
(Part IV. Continued from Volume /.)
53.
AT WHAT TIME DID LIF AND LEIFTHRASER GET THEIR
PLACE OF REFUGE IN MIMER^S GROVE ? THE ASMEGIR.
MIMER'S POSITION IN MYTHOLOGY. THE NUMINA off
THE LOWER WORLD.
It is necessary to begin this investigation by pointing
out the fact that there are two versions of the last line of
strophe 45 in Vafthrudnersmal. The version of this line
quoted above was — enn thadan af aldir alas: "Thence
(from Lif and Leifthraser in Mimer's grove) races are
born." Codex Upsalensis has instead — ok thar um alldr
alaz: "And they (Lif and Leifthraser) have there (in
Mimer's grove) their abiding place through ages." Of
course only the one of these versions can, from a text-
historical standpoint, be the original one. But this does
not hinder both from being equally legitimate from a
mythological standpoint, providing both date from a time
when the main features of the myth about Lif and Leif-
thraser were still remembered. Examples of versions
equally justifiable from a mythological standpoint can be
cited from other literatures than the Norse. If we in
the choice between the two versions pay regard only to
353
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the age of the manuscripts, then the one in Codex Up-
salensis, which is copied about the year 1300,* has the
preference. It would, however, hardly be prudent to
put the chief emphasis on this fact. Without drawing
any conclusions, I simply point out the fact that the oldest
version we possess of the passage says that Lif and Leif-
thraser live through ages in Mimer's grove. Nor is the
other version much younger, so far as the manuscript in
which it is found is concerned, and from a mythological
standpoint that, too, is beyond doubt correct.
In two places in the poetic Edda (Vegtamskv, 7, and
Fjolsvinnsm., 33) occurs the word dsmegir. Both times
it is used in such a manner that we perceive that it is a
mythological terminus technicus having a definite, limited
application. What this application was is not known.
It is necessary to make a most thorough analysis of the
passages in order to find the signification of this word
again, since it is of importance to the subject which we
are discussing. I shall begin with the passage in Fjols-
vinnsmal.
The young Svipdag, the hero in Grogalder and in
Fjolsvinnsmal, is in the latter poem represented as stand-
ing before the gate of a citadel which he never saw be-
fore, but within the walls of which the maid whom fate
has destined to be his wife resides. Outside of the gate
is a person who is or pretends to be the gate-keeper, and
calls himself Fjolsvinn. He and Svipdag enter into con-
versation. The conversation turns chiefly upon the re-
markable objects which Svipdag has before his eyes.
*S. Bugge, Saemund. Edda, xxvi. Thorl. J6nsson's Edda, Snorra St., viii.
354
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Svipdag asks questions about them, and Fjolsvinn gives
him information. But before Svipdag came to the cas-
tle, within which his chosen one awaits him, he has made
a remarkable journey (alluded to in Grogalder), and he
has seen strange things (thus in str. 9, 11, 33) which he
compares with those which he now sees, and in regard to
which he also desires information from Fjolsvinn. When
the questions concern objects which are before him at the
time of speaking, he employs, as the logic of language re-
quires, the present tense of the verb (as in strophe 35 —
segdu mer hvat that bjarg heitir, er ek se brudi a).
When he speaks of what he has seen before and else-
where, he employs the past tense of the verb. In strophe
33 he says:
Segdu mer that, Fjolsvidr,
er ek thik fregna mun
ok ek vilja vita;
hverr that gordi,
er ek fyr gard sak
innan asmaga?
"Tell me that which I ask you, and which I wish to
know, Fjolsvinn: Who made that which I saw within
the castle wall of the dsmegir?"*
* Looking simply at the form, the strophe may also be translated in the
following manner : "Tell me, Fjolsvinn, what I ask of you, and what I
wish to know. Who of the dsmegir made what I saw within the castle
wall?" Against this formal possibility there are, however, several objec-
tions of facts. Svipdag would then be asking Fjolsvinn who had made
that which he once in the past had seen within a castle wall without inform-
ing Fjolsvinn in regard to which particular castle wall he has reference.
It also presupposes that Svipdag knew that the dsmegir had made the
things in question which were within the castle wall, and that he onlry
wished to complete his knowledge by finding out which one or ones of the
dsmegir it was that had made them. And finally, it would follow from
Fjolsvinn's answer that the dwarfs he enumerates are sons of Asas. The
formal possibility pointed out has also a formal probability against it.
The gen. pi. dsmaga has as its nearest neighbour gard, not hverr, and
should therefore be referred to gard. not to hverr, even though both the
translations gave an equally satisfactory meaning so far as the facts
related are concerned ; but that is not the case.
355
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Fjolsvinn answers (str. 34) :
Uni ok Iri,
Bari ok Ori,
Varr ok Vegdrasil,
Dori ok Uri;
Dellingr ok vardar
lithsci alfr, loki.
"Une and Ire, Bare and Ore, Var and Vegdrasil, Dore
and Ure, Delling, the cunning elf, is watchman at the
gate."*
Thus Svipdag has seen a place where beings called
dsmegir dwell. It is well enclosed and guarded by the
elf Delling. The myth must have laid great stress on
the fact that the citadel was well guarded, since Delling,
whose cunning is especially emphasised, has been en-
trusted with this task. The citadel must also have been
distinguished for its magnificence and for other qualities,
since what Svipdag has seen within its gates has awak-
ened his astonishment and admiration, and caused him to
ask Fjolsvinn about the name of its builder. Fjolsvinn
enumerates not less than eight architects. At least three
of these are known by name in other sources — namely,
the "dwarfs" Var (Sn. Edda, ii. 470, 553), Dore, and
Ore. Both the last-named are also found in the list of
dwarfs incorporated in Voluspa. Both are said to be
dwarfs in Dvalin's group of attendants or servants (i
Dvalins lidi — Voluspa, 14).
*I follow the text in most of the manuscripts, of which Bugge has
given various versions. One manuscript has in the text, another in the
margin, Lidscialfr, written in one word (instead of lithsci alfr). Of this
Munch made Lidskjalfr. The dative loki from lok, a gate (cp. luka loka,
to close, enclose) has been interpreted as Loki, and thus made the con-
fusion complete.
356
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The problem to the solution of which I am struggling
on — namely, to find the explanation of what beings those
are which are called dsmegir — demands first of all that
we should find out where the myth located their dwelling
seen by Svipdag, a fact which is of mythological impor-
tance in other respects. This result can be gainexl, pro-
viding Dvalin's and Delling's real home and the scene
of their activity can be determined. This is particularly
important in respect to Belling, since his office as gate-
keeper at the castle of the dsmegir demands that he must
have his home where his duties are required. To some
extent this is also true of Dvalin, since the field of his
operations cannot have been utterly foreign to the citadel
on whose wonders his sub-artists laboured.
The author of the dwarf-list in Voluspa makes all holy
powers assemble to consult as to who shall create "the
dwarfs," the artist-clan of the mythology. The word-
ing of strophe 10 indicates that on a being by name Mod-
sognir, Motsognir, was bestowed the dignity of chief*
of the proposed artist-clan, and that he, with the assist-
ance of Durin (Durinn), carried out the resolution of the
gods, and created dwarfs resembling men. The author
of the dwarf list must have assumed —
That Modsogner was one of the older beings of the
world, for the assembly of gods here in question took
place in the morning of time before the creation was com-
pleted.
That Modsogner possessed a promethean power of
creating.
*Thar (in the assembly of the gods) var Modsognir mcestr um ordinn
dverga allra.
357
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
That he either belonged to the circle of holy powers
himself, or stood in a close and friendly relation to them,
since he carried out the resolve of the gods.
Accordingly, we should take Modsogner to be one of
the more remarkable characters of the mythology. But
either he is not mentioned anywhere else than in this
place1 — we look in vain for the name Modsogner else-
where—or this name is merely a skaldic epithet, which
has taken the place of a more common name, and which
by reference to a familiar nota characteristica indicates
a mythic person well known and mentioned elsewhere.
It cannot be disputed that the word looks like an epithet.
Egilsson (Lex. Poet.) defines it as the mead-drinker.
If the definition is correct, then the epithet were badly
chosen if it did not refer to Mimer, who originally was
the sole possessor of the mythic mead, and who daily
drank of it (Voluspa, 29 — dreckr miod Mimir margin
liver jan). Still nothing can be built simply on the defi-
nition of a name, even if it is correct beyond a doubt.
All the indices which are calculated to shed light on a
question should be collected and examined. Only when
they all point in the same direction, and give evidence in
favour of one and the same solution of the problem, the
latter can be regarded as settled.
Several of the "dwarfs" created by Modsogner are
named in Voluspa, 11-13. Among them are Dvalin.
In the opinion of the author of the list of dwarfs, Dvalin
must have occupied a conspicuous place among the be-
ings to whom he belongs, for he is the only one of them
all who is mentioned as having a number of his own
358
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
kind as subjects (Voluspa, 14). The problem as to
whether Modsogner is identical with Mimer should
therefore be decided by the answers to the following
questions: Is that which is narrated about Modsogner
also narrated of Mimer? Do the statements which we
have about Dvalin show that he was particularly con-
nected with Mimer and with the lower world, the realm
of Mimer?
Of Modsogner it. is said (Voluspa, 12) that he was
m&str ordinn dverga allra: he became the chief of all
dwarfs, or, in other words, the foremost among all ar-
tists. Have we any similar report of Mimer?
The German middle-age poem, "Biterolf," relates that
its hero possessed a sword, made by Mimer the Old,
Mime der alte, who was the most excellent smith in the
world. To be compared with him was not even Wie-
land (Volund, Wayland), still less anyone else, with
the one exception of Hertrich, who was Mimer's co-la-
bourer, and assisted him in making all the treasures he
produced :
Zuo siner (Mimer's) meisterschefte
ich nieman kan gelichen
in alien fiirsten richen
an einen, den ich nenne,
daz man in dar bi erkenne:
Der war Hertrich genant.
Durch ir sinne craft
so hseten sie geselleschaft
an werke und an alien dingen. (Biterolf, 144.)
Vilkinasaga, which is based on both German and Norse
359
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sources, states that Mimer was an artist, in whose work-
shop the sons of princes and the most famous smiths
learned the trade of the smith. Among his apprentices
are mentioned Velint (Volund), Sigurd-Sven, and Ecki-
hard.
These echoes reverberating far down in Christian
times of the myth about Mimer, as chief of smiths, we
also perceive in Saxo. It should be remembered what he
relates about the incomparable treasures which are pre-
served in Gudmund-Mimer's domain, among which in
addition to those already named occur arma humanorum
corporum* hdbitu grandiora (i., p. 427), and about Mimin-
gus, who possesses the sword of victory, and an arm-
ring which produces wealth (i. 113, 114). If we consult
the poetic Edda, we find Mimer mentioned as Hodd-
Mimer, Treasure-Mimer (Vafthr. 45) ; as naddgofugr
jotunn, the giant celebrated for his weapons (Grogalder,
14) ; as Hoddrofnir, or Hodd-dropnir, the treasure-drop-
ping one (Sigrdr., 13) ; as Baugreginn, the king of the
gold-rings (Solarlj., 56). And as shall be shown here-
after, the chief smiths are in the poetic Edda put in con-
nection with Mimer as the one on whose fields they dwell,
or in whose smithy they work.
In the mythology, artistic and creative powers are
closely related to each other. The great smiths of the
Rigveda hymns, the Ribhus, make horses for Indra,
create a cow and her calf, make from a single goblet three
equally good, diffuse vegetation over the fields, and make
brooks flow in the valleys (Rigveda, iv. 34, 9; iv. 38, 8;
i. 20, 6, 110, 3, and elsewhere). This they do although
360
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
they are "mortals," who by their merits acquire immor-
tality. In the Teutonic mythology Sindre and Brok
forge from a pig-skin Frey's steed, which looks like a
boar, and the sons of Ivalde forge from, gold locks that
grow like other hair. The ring Draupnir, which the
"dwarfs" Sindre and Brok made, possesses itself creative
power and produces every ninth night eight gold rings
of equal weight with itself (Skaldsk., 37). The
"mead-drinker" is the chief and master of all these ar-
tists. And on a closer examination it appears that Mi-
mer's mead-well is the source of all these powers, which
in the mythology are represented as creating, forming,
and ordaining with wisdom.
In Havamal (138-141) Odin relates that there was a
time when he had not yet acquired strength and wisdom.
But by self-sacrifice he was able to prevail on the cele-
brated Bolthorn's son, who dwells in the deep and has
charge of the mead-fountain there and of the mighty
runes, to give him (Odin) a drink from the precious
mead, drawn from Odr&rir:
Tha nam ec frovaz Then I began to bloom
oc frodr vera and to be wise,
oc vaxa oc vel hafaz; and to grow and thrive;
ord mer af ordi word came to me
orz leitadi, from word,
verc mer af verki deed came to me
vercs leitadi. from deed.
It is evident that Odin here means to say that the first
drink which he received from Mimer's fountain was the
turning-point in his life ; that before that time he had not
361
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
blossomed, had made no progress in wisdom, had pos-
sessed no eloquence nor ability to do great deeds, but that
he acquired all this from the power of the mead. This
is precisely the same idea as we constantly meet with in
Rigveda, in regard to the soma-mead as the liquid from
which the gods got creative power, wisdom, and desire
to accomplish great deeds. Odin's greatest and most
celebrated achievement was that he, with his brothers,
created Midgard. Would it then be reasonable to sup-
pose that he performed this greatest and wisest of his
works before he began to develop fruit, and before he got
wisdom and the power of activity? It must be evident
to everybody that this would be unreasonable. It is
equally manifest that among the works which he con-
sidered himself able to perform after the drink from Mi-
mer's fountain had given him strength, we must place in
the front rank those for which he is most celebrated : the
slaying of the chaos-giant Ymer, the raising of the crust
of the earth, and the creation of Midgard. This could
not be said more clearly than it is stated in the above
strophe of Havamal, unless Odin should have specifically
mentioned the works he performed after receiving the
drink. From Mimer's fountain and from Mimer's hand
Odin has, therefore, received his creative power and his
wisdom. We are thus able to understand why Odin re-
garded this first drink from Odrserer so immensely im-
portant that he could resolve to subject himself to the
sufferings which are mentioned in strophes 138 and 139.
But when Odin by a single drink from Mimer's foun-
tain is endowed with creative power and wisdom, how
362
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
can the conclusion be evaded, that the myth regarded
Mimer as endowed with Promethean power, since it
makes him the possessor of the precious fountain, makes
him drink therefrom every day, and places him nearer
to the deepest source and oldest activity of these forces
in the universe than Odin himself? The given and
more instantaneous power, thanks to which Odin was
made able to form the upper world, came from the lower
world and from Mimer. The world-tree has also grown
out of the lower world and is Mimer's tree, and receives
from his hands its value. Thus the creative power with
which the dwarf-list in Voluspa endowed the "mead-
drinker" is rediscovered in Mimer. It is, therefore, per-
fectly logical when the mythology makes him its first
smith and chief artist, and keeper of treasures and the
ruler of a group of dwarfs, underground artists, for
originally these were and remained creative forces per-
sonified, just as Rigveda's Rubhus, who smithied flow-
ers and grass, and animals, and opened the veins of the
earth for fertilising streams, while they at the same time
made implements and weapons.
That Mimer was the profound counsellor and faithful
friend of the Asas has already been shown. Thus we
discover in Mimer Modsogner's governing position
among the artists, his creative activity, and his friendly
relation to the gods.
Dvalin, created by Modsogner, is in the Norse sagas
of the middle ages remembered as an extraordinary ar-
tist. He is there said to have assisted in the fashioning
of the sword Tyrfing (Fornald. Saga, i. 436), of Freyja's
2 363
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
splendid ornament Brisingamen, celebrated also in Anglo-
Saxon poetry (Fornald. Saga, i. 391). In the Snofrid
song, which is attributed to Harald Fairhair, the drapa
is likened unto a work of art, which rings forth from
beneath the fingers of Dvalin (hrynr fram ur Dvalin's
grap— Fornm. Saga, x. 208; Flat., i. 582). This beau-
tiful poetical figure is all the more appropriately applied,
since Dvalin was not only the producer of the beautiful
works of the smith, but also sage and skald. He was
one of the few chosen ones who in time's morning were
permitted to taste of Mimer's mead, which therefore is
called his drink (Dvalin's drykkr — Younger Edda,
i. 246).
But in the earliest antiquity no one partook of this
drink who did not get it from Mimer himself.
Dvalin is one of the most ancient rune-masters, one
of those who brought the knowledge of runes to those
beings of creation who were endowed with reason (Hav-
amal, 143). But all knowledge of runes came origin-
ally from Mimer. As skald and runic scholar, Dvalin,
therefore, stood in the relation of disciple under the ruler
of the lower world.
The myth in regard to the runes (cp. No. 26) men-
tioned three apprentices, who afterwards spread the
knowledge of runes each among his own class of be-
ings. Odin, who in the beginning was ignorant of the
mighty and beneficent rune-songs (Havamal, 138-143),
was by birth Mimer's chief disciple, and taught the
knowledge of runes among his kinsmen, the Asas (Hav-
amal, 143), and among men, his proteges (Sigdrifm.,
364
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
18). The other disciples were Dain (Ddinn) and Dva-
lin (Dvalinn). Dain, like Dvalin, is an artist created
by Modsogner (Voluspa, 11, Hauks Codex). He is
mentioned side by side with Dvalin, and like him he has
tasted the mead of poesy (munnvigg Ddins — Fornm.
Saga, v. 209). Dain and Dvalin taught the runes to
their clans, that is, to elves and dwarfs (Havamal, 143).
Nor were the giants neglected. They learned the runes
from Asvidr. Since the other teachers of runes belong
to the clans, to which they teach the knowledge of runes
— "Odin among Asas, Dain among elves, Dvalin among
dwarfs" — there can be no danger of making a mistake,
if we assume that Asvidr was a giant. And as Mimer
himself is a giant, and as the name Asvidr (=Asvinr)
means Asa-friend, and as no one — particularly no one
among the giants — has so much right as Mimer to this
epithet, which has its counterpart in Odin's epithet,
Mirn^s vinr (Mimer's friend), then caution dictates that
we keep open the highly probable possibility that Mimer
himself is meant by Asvidr.
All that has here been stated about Dvalin shows that
the mythology has referred him to a place within the do-
main of Mimer's activity. We have still to point out
two statements in regard to him. Sol is said to have
been his leika (Fornald., i. 475; Allvism, 17; Younger
Edda, i. 472, 593). Leika, as a feminine word and re-
ferring to a personal object, means a young girl, a mai-
den, whom one keeps at his side, and in whose amuse-
ment one takes part at least as a spectator. The exam-
ples which we have of the use of the word indicate that
365
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the leika herself, and the person whose leika she is, are
presupposed to have the same home. Sisters are called
leikur, since they live together. Parents can call a fos-
ter-daughter their leika. In the neuter gender leika means
a plaything, a doll or toy, and even in this sense it can
rhetorically be applied to a person.
In the same manner as Sol is called Dvalin's leika, so
the son of Nat and Delling, Dag, is called leikr Dvalins,
the lad or youth with whom Dvalin amused himself
(Fornspjal., 24).
We have here found two points of contact between the
mythic characters Dvalin and Delling. Dag, who is
Dvalin's leikr, is Delling's son. Delling is the watch-
man of the castle of the dsmegir, which Dvalin's artists
decorated.
Thus the whole group of persons among whom Dvalin
is placed — Mimer, who is his teacher; Sol, who is his
leika; Dag, who is his leikr; Nat, who is the mother of
his leikr; Delling, who is the father of his leikr — have
their dwellings in Mimer's domain, and belong to the
subterranean class of the numina of Teutonic mythol-
ogy.
From regions situated below Midgard's horizon, Nat,
Sol, and Dag draw their chariots upon the heavens. On
the eastern border of the lower world is the point of de-
parture for their regular journeys over the heavens of
the upper world ("the upper heavens," upphiminn — -
Voluspa, 3; Vafthr., 20, and elsewhere; uppheimr —
Alvm., 13). Nat has her home and, as shall be shown
hereafter, her birthplace in dales beneath the ash Ygdra-
366
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sil. There she takes her rest after the circuit of her
journey has been completed. In the lower world Sol
and Nat's son, Dag, also have their halls where they
take their rest. But where Delling's wife and son have
their dwellings there we should also look for Delling's
own abode. As the husband of Nat and the father of
Dag, Delling occupies the same place among the divini-
ties of nature as the dawn and the glow of sunrise among
the phenomena of nature. And outside the doors of
Delling, the king of dawn, mythology has also located
the dwarf thjodreyrir ("he who moves the people"), who
.sings songs of awakening and blessing upon the world :
"power to the Asas, success to the elves, wisdom to
Hroptatyr" (afl asom, enn alfum frama, hyggio Hrop-
taty — Havam., 160).
Unlike his kinsmen, Nat, Dag, and Sol, Delling has no
duty which requires him to be absent from home a part of
the day. The dawn is merely a reflection of Midgard's
eastern horizon from Delling's subterranean dwelling.
It can be seen only when Nat leaves the upper heaven and
before Dag and Sol have come forward, and it makes no
journey around the world. From a mythological stand-
point it would therefore be possible to entrust the keeping
of the castle of the dsmegir to the elf of dawn. The sun-
set-glow has another genius, Billing, and he, too, is a crea-
tion of Modsogner, if the dwarf-list is correct (Voluspa,
12). Sol, who on her way is pursued by two giant mon-
sters in wolf-guise, is secure when she comes to her forest
of the Yarns behind the western horizon ( til varna vridar —
Grimn., 30). There in western halls (Vegtamskv., 11)
367
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dwells Billing, the chief of the Varns (Billing veold Ver-
num — Cod. Exon., 320). There rests his daughter Rind
bright as the sun on her bed, and his body-guard keeps
watch with kindled lights and burning torches (Havam.,
100). Thus Billing is the watchman of the western
boundary of Mimer's domain, Delling of the eastern.
From this it follows:
That the citadel of the dsmegir is situated in Mimer's
lower world, and there in the regions of the elf of dawn.
That Svipdag, who has seen the citadel of the dsmegir,
has made a journey in the lower world before he found
Menglad and secured her as his wife.
The conclusion to which we have arrived in regard to
the subterranean situation of the citadel is entirely con-
firmed by the other passage in the poetic Edda, where the
dsmegir are mentioned by this name. Here we have an
opportunity of taking a look within their castle, and of
seeing the hall decorated with lavish splendour for the re-
ception of an expected guest.
Vegtamskvida tells us that Odin, being alarmed in re-
gard to the fate of his son Balder, made a journey to the
lower world for the purpose of learning from a vala what
foreboded his favourite son. When Odin had rode
through Nifelhel and come to green pastures (foldvegr),
he found there below a hall decorated for festivity, and
he asks the prophetess :
hvseim eru bekkir
baugum sanir,
flset fagrlig
floth gulli?
368
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"For whom are the benches strewn with rings and the
gold beautifully scattered through the rooms?"
And the vala answers:
Her staendr Balldri
of bruggin miodr,
skirar vseigar,
liggr skiolldr yfir
sen asmegir
i ofvseni.
"Here stands for Balder mead prepared, pure drink;
shields are overspread, and the asmegir are waiting im-
patiently."
Thus there stands in the lower world a hall splendidly
decorated awaiting Balder's arrival. As at other great
feasts, the benches are strewn (cp. breida bekki, strd
bekki, bua bekki} with costly things, and the pure won-
derful mead of the lower world is already served as an
offering to the god. Only the shields which cover the
mead-vessel need to be lifted off and all is ready for the
feast. Who or what persons have, in so good season,
made these preparations? The vala explains when she
mentions the asmegir and speaks of their longing for Bal-
der. It is this longing which has found utterance in the
preparations already completed for his reception. Thus,
when Balder gets to the lower world, he is to enter the
citadel of the asmegir and there be welcomed by a sacri-
fice, consisting of the noblest liquid of creation, the
strength-giving soma~madhu of Teutonic mythology. In
the old Norse heathen literature there is only one more
place where we find the word asmegir, and that is in Olaf
369
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Trygveson's saga, ch. 16 (Heimskringla). For the sake
of completeness this passage should also be considered,
and when analysed it, too, sheds much and important
light on the subject.
We read in this saga that Jarl Hakon proclaimed
throughout his kingdom that the inhabitants should look
after their temples and sacrifices, and so was done. Jarl
Hakon's hird-skald, named Einar Skalaglam, who in the
poem "Vellekla" celebrated his deeds and exploits, men-
tions his interest in the heathen worship, and the good re-
sults this was supposed to have produced for the jarl
himself and for the welfare of his land. Einar says :
Ok hertharfir hverfa
hlakkar mots til biota,
raudbrikar fremst raekir
rikr, asmegir, sliku.
Nu graer jord sem adan, &c.
Put in prose: Ok hertharfir asmegir hverfa til biota;
hlakkar mots raudbrikar rikr rcekir fremst sliku. Nu
grazr jord sem adan.
Translation : "And the asmegir required in war, turn
themselves to the sacrificial feasts. The mighty pro-
moter of the meeting of the red target of the goddess of
war has honour and advantage thereof. Now grows the
earth green as heretofore."
There can be no doubt that "the asmegir required in
war" refer to the men in the territory ruled by Hakon,
and that "the mighty promoter of the meeting of the red
target of the goddess of war" refers to the warlike Hakon
himself, and hence the meaning of the passage in its plain
370
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
prose form is simply this: "Hakon's men again devote
themselves to the divine sacrifices. This is both an hon-
our and an advantage to Hakon, and the earth again
yields bountiful harvests."
To these thoughts the skald has given a garb common
in poetry of art, by adapting them to a mythological back-
ground. The persons in this background are the asmegir
and a mythical being called "the promoter of the red tar-
get," raudbrikar r&kir. The persons in the foreground
are the men in Hakon's realm and Hakon himself. The
persons in the foreground are permitted to borrow the
names of the corresponding persons in the background,
but on the condition that the borrowed names are fur-
nished with adjectives which emphasise the specific dif-
ference between the original mythic lenders and the real
borrowers. Thus Hakon's subjects are allowed to bor-
row the appellation asmegir, but this is then furnished
with the adjective hertharfir (required in war), whereby
they are specifically distinguished from the asmegir of the
mythical background, and Hakon on his part is allowed
to borrow the appellation raudbrikar rcekir (the promoter
of the red target), but this appellation is then furnished
with the adjective phrase hlakkar mots (of the meeting
of the goddess of war), whereby Hakon is specifically dis-
tinguished from the raudbrikar r&kir of the mythical
background.
The rule also requires that, at least on that point of
which the skald happens to be treating, the persons in the
mythological background should hold a relation to each
other which resembles, and can be compared with, the re-
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
lation between the persons in the foreground. Hakon's
men stand in a subordinate relation to Hakon himself;
and so must the dsmegir stand in a subordinate relation
to that being which is called raudbrikar rakir, providing
the skald in this strophe as in the others has produced a
tenable parallel. Hakon is, for his subjects, one who ex-
horts them to piety and fear of the gods. Raudbrikar
rcekir, his counterpart in the mythological background,
must have been the same for his dsmegir. Hakon's sub-
jects offer sacrifices, and this is an advantage and an hon-
our to Hakon, and the earth grows green again. In the
mythology the dsmegir must have held some sacrificial
feast, and raudbrikar rcekir must have had advantage and
honour, and the earth must have regained its fertility.
Only on these conditions is the figure of comparison to
the point, and of such a character that it could be pre-
sented unchallenged to heathen ears familiar with the
myths. It should be added that Einar's greatness as a
skald is not least shown by his ability to carry out logi-
cally such figures of comparison. We shall later on give
other examples of this.
Who is, then, this raudbrikar rcekir, "the promoter of
the red target ?"
In the mythological language raudbrik (red target)
can mean no other object than the sun. Compare rodull,
which is frequently used to designate the sun. If this
needed confirmation, then we have it immediately at hand
in the manner in which the word is applied in the continu-
ation of the paraphrase adapted to Hakon. A common
paraphrase for the shield is the sun with suitable adjec-
372
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tives, and thus raudbrik is applied here. The adjective
phrase is here hlakkar mots, "of the meeting of the war-
goddess" (that is, qualifying the red target), whereby
the red target (= sun), which is an attribute of the
mythic r&kir of the background, is changed to a shield,
which becomes an attribute of the historical r&kir of the
foreground, namely Hakon jarl, the mighty warrior.
Accordingly, raudbrikar rcekir of the mythology must be
a masculine divinity standing in some relation to the
sun.
This sun-god must also have been upon the whole a
god of peace. Had he not been so, but like Hakon a
war-loving shield-bearer, then the paraphrase hlakkar
mots raudbrikar rakir would equally well designate him
as Hakon, and thus it could not be used to designate Ha-
kon alone, as it then would contain neither a nota charac-
teristica for him nor a differentia specifica to distinguish
him from the mythic person, whose epithet raudbrikar
r&kir he has been allowed to borrow.
This peaceful sun-god must have descended to the
lower world and there stood in the most intimate relation
with the dsmegir referred to the domain of Mimer, for he
is here represented as their chief and leader in the path
of piety and the fear of the gods. The myth must have
mentioned a sacrificial feast or sacrificial feasts celebrated
by the dsmegir. From this or these sacrificial feasts the
peaceful sun-god must have derived advantage and hon-
our, and thereupon the earth must have regained a fer-
tility, which before that had been more or less denied it.
From all this it follows with certainty that raudbrikar
373
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
rcekir of the mythology is Balder. The fact suggested
by the Vellekla strophe above analysed, namely, that Bal-
der, physically interpreted, is a solar divinity, the mytho-
logical scholars are almost a unit in assuming to be the
case on account of the general character of the Balder
myth. Though Balder was celebrated for heroic deeds
he is substantially a god of peace, and after his descent to
the lower world he is no longer connected with the feuds
and dissensions of the upper world. We have already
seen that he was received in the lower world with great
pomp by the asmegir, who impatiently awaited his arri-
val, and that they sacrifice to him that bright mead of
the lower world, whose wonderfully beneficial and brac-
ing influence shall be discussed below. Soon afterwards
he is visited by Hermod. Already before Balder's
funeral pyre, Hermod upon the fastest of all steeds has-
tened to find him in the lower world (Gylfag., 51, 52),
and Hermod returns from him and Nanna with the ring
Draupnir for Odin, and with a veil for the goddess of
earth, Fjorgyn-Frigg. The ring from which other rings
drop, and the veil which is to beautify the goddess of
earth, are symbols of fertility. Balder, the sun-god, had
for a long time before his death been languishing. Now
in the lower world he is strengthened with the bracing
mead of Mimer's domain by the asmegir who gladly give
offerings, and the earth regains her green fields.
Hakon's men are designated in the strophe as hertharfir
asmegir. When they are permitted to borrow the name
of the asmegir, then the adjective hertharfir, if chosen
with the proper care, is to contain a specific distinction be-
374
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tween them and the mythological beings whose name they
have borrowed. In other words, if the real dsmegir
were of such a nature that they could be called hertharfir,
then that adjective would not serve to distinguish Ha-
kon's men from them. The word hertharfir means
"those who are needed in war," "those who are to be used
in war." Consequently, the dsmegir are beings who are
not to be used in war, beings whose dwelling, environ-
ment, and purpose suggest a realm of peace, from which
the use of weapons is banished.
Accordingly, the parallel presented in Einar's strophe,
which we have now discussed, is as follows :
Mythology.
Peaceful beings of the lower
world (asmegir).
at the instigation of their
chief,
the sun-god Balder (raudbri-
kar raekir).
go to offer sacrifices.
The peaceful Balder is there-
by benefited.
The earth grows green again.
ok asmegir,
hverfa til biota;
raudbrikar rikr raekir
fremst sliku.
Nu graer jordsem adan.
History.
Warlike inhabitants of the
earth (hertharfir asme-
gir).
at the instigation of their
chief,
the shield's Balder, Hakon
(hlakkar mots raudbri-
kar raekir),
go to offer sacrifices.
The shield's Balder is thereby
benefited.
The earth grows green again,
ok hertharfir asmegir
hverfa til biota
hlakkar mots raudbrikar rikr
raekir
fremst sliku.
Nu grser jord sem adan.
In the background which Einar has given to his poeti-
cal paraphrase, we thus have the myth telling how the
375
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sun-god Balder, on his descent to the lower world, was
strengthened by the soma-sacrifice brought him by the
dsmegir, and how he sent back with Hermod the treas-
ures of fertility which had gone with him and Nanna to
the lower world, and which restored the fertility of the
earth.
To what category of beings do the dsmegir then be-
long? We have seen the word applied as a technical
term in a restricted sense. The possibilities of applica-
tion which the word with reference to its definition sup-
plies are:
(1) The word may be used in the purely physical
sense of Asa-sons, Asa-descendants. In this case the
subterranean dsmegir would be by their very descent
members of that god-clan that resides in Asgard, and
whose father and clan-patriarch is Odin.
(2) The word can be applied to men. They are the
children of the Asa- father in a double sense: the first
human pair was created by Odin and his brothers
(Volusp., 16, 17; Gylfag., 9), and their offspring are
also in a moral sense Odin's children, as they are sub-
ject to his guidance and care. He is Alfather, and the
father of the succeeding generations (allfadir, aldafadir).
A word resembling dsmegir in character is dsasynir, and
this is used in Allvismal, 16, in a manner which shows
that it does not refer to any of those categories of beings
that are called gods (see further. No. 62)* The concep-
*Sol Tieitir med monnom,
enn sunna med godum,
Ualla dvergar Dvalin's leika
eyglo iotnar,
alfar fagra hvel
alscir asa synir.
376
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tion of men as sons of the gods is also implied in the all
mankind embracing phrase, megir Heimdallar (Volusp.,
1), with which the account of Rig-Heimdal's journey on
the earth and visit to the patriarchs of the various classes
is connected.*
The true meaning of the word in this case is deter-
mined by the fact that the dsmegir belong to the dwellers
in the lower world already before the death of Balder,
and that Balder is the first one of the Asas and sons of
Odin who becomes a dweller in the lower world. To
this must be added, that if dsmegir meant Asas, Einar
would never have called the inhabitants of Norway, the
subjects of jarl Hakon, hertharfir dsmegir, for hertharfir
the Asas are themselves, and that in the highest degree.
They constitute a body of more or less warlike persons,
who all have been "needed in conflict" in the wars around
Asgard and Midgard, and they all, Balder included, are
gods of war and victory. It would also have been
malapropos to compare men with Asas on an occasion
when the former were represented as bringing sacrifices
to the gods ; that is, as persons subordinate to them and
in need of their assistance.
The dsmegir are, therefore, human beings excluded
from the surface of the earth, from the mankind which
dwell in Midgard, and are inhabitants of the lower world,
where they reside in a splendid castle kept by the elf of
dawn, Delling, and enjoy the society of Balder, who de-
scended to Hades. To subterranean human beings re-
*Cp. also Gylfag.. 9, in regard to Odin : Ok fyrir thvi ma harm heita
Allfodr, at hann er fadir alra godanna ok manna ok alls thess, er af honom
ok hans krapti var fullgjort.
377
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fers also Grimnismal, 21, which says that men (mennzkir
menn) dwell under the roots of Ygdrasil; and Allvismal,
16 (to be compared with 18, 20, and other passages),
and Skirnersmal, 34, which calls them dslithar, a word
which Gudbrand Vigfusson has rightly assumed to be
identical with dsmegir.
Thus it is also demonstrated that the dsmegir are iden-
tical with the subterranean human persons Lif and Leif-
thraser and their descendants in Mimer's grove. The
care with which the mythology represents the citadel of
the dsmegir kept, shown by the fact that the elf Belling,
the counterpart of Heimdal in the lower world, has been
entrusted with its keeping, is intelligible and proper when
we know that it is of the greatest importance to shield
Lif and Leifthraser's dwelling from all ills, sickness, age,
and moral evil (see above). It is also a beautiful poetic
thought that it is the elf of the morning dawn — he out-
side of whose door the song of awakening and bliss is
sung to the world — who has been appointed to watch
those who in the dawn of a new world shall people the
earth with virtuous and happy races. That the dsmegir
in the lower world are permitted to enjoy the society of
Balder is explained by the fact that Lif and Leifthraser
and their offspring are after Ragnarok to accompany Bal-
der to dwell under his sceptre, and live a blameless life
corresponding to his wishes. They are to be his disci-
ples, knowing their master's commandments and having
them written in their hearts.
We have now seen that the dsmegir already before
Balder's death dwell in Mimer's grove. We have also
378
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
seen that Svipdag on his journey in the lower world had
observed a castle, which he knew belonged to the dsmegir.
The mythology knows two fimbul-winters : the former
raged in time's morning, the other is to precede Rag-
narok. The former occurred when Freyja, the goddess
of fertility, was treacherously delivered into the power of
the frost-giants and all the air was blended with corrup-
tion (Volusp., 26) ; when there came from the Elivogs
stinging, ice-cold arrows of frost, which put men to death
and destroyed the greenness of the earth ( Pornspjallsl-
jod) ; when King Snow ruled, and there came in the
northern lands a famine which compelled the people to
emigrate to the South (Saxo, i. 415). Svipdag made his
journey in the lower world during the time preceding the
first fimbul-winter. This follows from the fact that it
was he who liberated Freyja, the sister of the god of the
harvests, from the .power of the frost-giants (see Nos.
96-102). Lif and Leifthraser were accordingly already
at that time transferred to Mimer's grove. This ought to
have occurred before the earth and her inhabitants were
afflicted by physical and moral evil, while there still could
be found undefiled men to be" saved for the world to come ;
and we here find that the mythology, so far as the records
make it possible for us to investigate the matter, has log-
ically met this claim of poetic justice.
54.
THE IRANIAN MYTH CONCERNING MIMER^S GROVE.
In connection with the efforts to determine the age
of the Teutonic myths, and their kinship with the other
3 379
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Aryan (Indo-European) mythologies, the fact deserves
attention that the myth in regard to a subterranean grove
and the human beings there preserved for a future regen-
erated world is also found among the Iranians, an Asiatic
race akin to the Teutons. The similarity between the
Teutonic and Iranian traditions is so conspicuous that the
question is irresistible — Whether it is not originally, from
the standpoint of historical descent, one and the same
myth, which, but little affected by time, has been preserved
by the Teutonic Aryans around the Baltic, and by the
Iranian Aryans in Baktria and Persia? But the answer
to the question requires the greatest caution. The psy-
chological similarity of races may, on account of the lim-
itations of the human fancy, and in the midst of similar
conditions and environments, create myths which resem-
ble each other, although they were produced spontaneously
by different races in different parts of the earth. This
may happen in the same manner as primitive implements,
tools, and dwellings which resemble each other may have
been invented and used by races far separated from each
other, not by the one learning from the other how these
things were to be made, nor on account of a common
descent in antiquity. The similarity is the result of
similar circumstances. It was the same want which was
to be satisfied; the same human logic found the manner
of satisfying the want; the same materials offered them-
selves for the accomplishment of the end, and the same
universal conceptions of form were active in the develop-
ment of the problems. Comparative mythology will
never become a science in the strict sense of this word
380
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
before it ceases to build hypotheses on a solitary similarity,
or even on several or many resemblances between mytho-
logical systems geographically separated, unless these
resemblances unite themselves and form a whole, a myth-
ical unity, and unless it appears that this mythical unity
in turn enters as an element into a greater complexity,
which is similar in fundamental structure and similar in
its characteristic details. Especially should this rule be
strictly observed when we compare the myths of peoples
who neither by race nor language can be traced back to
a prehistoric unity. But it is best not to relax the severity
of the rules even when we compare the myths of peoples
who, like the Teutons, the Iranians, and the Rigveda-
Aryans, have the same origin and same language; who
through centuries, and even long after their separation,
have handed down from generation to generation similar
mythological conceptions and mythical traditions. I trust
that, as this work of mine gradually progresses, a suf-
ficient material of evidence for the solution of the above
problem will be placed in the hands of my readers. I now
make a beginning of this by presenting the Iranian myth
concerning Jima's grove and the subterranean human
beings transferred to it.
In the ancient Iranian religious documents Jima is a
holy and mighty ancient being, who, however, does not
belong to the number of celestial divinities which surround
the highest god, Ahuramazda, but must be counted among
"the mortals," to the oldest seers and prophets of antiq-
uity. A hymn of sacrifice, dedicated to the sacred mead,
the liquid of inspiration (homa, thesoma and soma-madhu
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of the Rigveda-Aryans, the last word being the same as
our word mead}, relates that Jima and his father were
the first to prepare the mead of inspiration for the material
world ; that he, Jima, was the richest in honour of all who
had been born, and that he of all mortals most resembled
the sun. In his kingdom there was neither cold nor heat,
neither frost nor drought, neither aging nor death. A
father by the side of his son resembled, like the son, a
youth of fifteen years. The evil created by the demons
did not cross the boundaries of Jima's world (The
Younger Jasna, ch. 9).
Jima was the favourite of Ahuramazda, the highest
god. Still he had a will of his own. The first mortal
with whom Ahuramazda talked was Jima, and he taught
him the true faith, and desired that Jima should spread
it among the mortals. But Jima answered: "I am not
suited to be the bearer and apostle of the faith, nor am
I believed to be so" (Vendidad}. [In this manner it is
explained why the true doctrine did not become known
among men before the reformer Zarathustra came, and
why Jima the possessor of the mead of inspiration, never-
theless, was in possession of the true wisdom.]
It is mentioned (in Gosh Jasht and Ram Jasht) that
Jima held two beings in honour, which did not belong to
Ahuramazda's celestial circle, but were regarded as
worthy of worship. These two were :
1. The cow (Gosh), that lived in the beginning of time,
and whose blood, when she was slain, fertilised the earth
with the seed of life.
2. Vajush, the heavenly breeze. He is identical with
382
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the ruler of the air and wind in Rigveda, the mighty god
Vayu-Vata.
In regard to the origin and purpose of the kingdom
ruled by Jima, in which neither frost nor drought, nor
aging nor death, nor moral evil, can enter Vendi-dad re-
lates the following :*
A vest a.
21. A meeting was held
with the holy angels of Ahu-
ramazda, the creator. To
this meeting came, with the
best men, Jima, the king rich
in flocks.
22. Then said Ahuramazda
to Jima: "Happy Jima Vivan-
ghana! In the material world
there shall come an evil win-
ter, and consequently a hard,
killing frost."
23. From three places, O
Jima, the cows should be
driven to well-enclosed shel-
ters; whether they are in the
wildernesses, or in the heights
of the mountains, or in the
depths of the valleys.
24. Before the winter this
land had meadows. Before
that time the water (the rain)
was wont to flow over it, and
the snow to melt; and there
was found, O Jima, in the
/ Zend.
A meeting was held with
the best men of Jima, the king,
the one rich in flocks. To
this meeting came, with the
holy angels, Ahuramazda, the
creator.
In the material world there
shall come an evil winter,
consequently much snow
shall fall on the highest moun-
tains, on the tops of the
rocks.
From three places, O Jima,
the cows should be driven
to well-enclosed shelters;
whether they are in the wil-
derness, or on the heights of
the mountains, or in the
depths of the valleys.
*The outlines of the contents are given here from the interpretation
found in Haug- West's Essays on the Sacred Language of the Parsis (Lon-
don, 1878).
383
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
material world, water-soaked
places, in which were visible
the footprints of the cattle
and their offspring.
25. Now give this enclo-
sure (above, "the well-en-
closed shelters") on each of
its four sides the length of
one . . . and bring thither
the seed of your cattle, of
oxen, of men, of dogs, and of
birds, and red blazing fires.
26. Gather water there in a
canal, the length of one ha-
thra. Place the landmarks
there on a gold-coloured spot,
furnished with imperishable
nourishment. Put up a house
there of mats and poles, with
roof and walls.
Now give the enclosure the
length of one ... on each of
its four sides as a dwelling for
men, and give the same length
to each of the four sides as a
field for the cows.
27. Bring thither seed of all
men and women, who are the
largest, best, and most fair on
this earth. Bring thither seed
of all domestic animals that
are the largest, best, and fair-
est on this earth.
28. Bring thither seed of all
plants which are the highest
and most fragrant on this
earth. Bring thither seed of
all articles of food which are
the best tasting and most
fragrant on this earth. And
make pairs of them unceas-
ingly, in order that these be-
ings may have their existence
in the enclosures.
384
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
29. There shall be no pride,
no despondency, no sluggish-
ness, no poverty, no deceit,
no dwarf-growths, no blem-
ish ... nor aught else of those
signs which are Angro-main-
yush's curses put on men.
30. Make, in the uppermost
part of that territory, nine
bridges; in the middle, six; in
the lowest part, three. To the
bridges of the upper part you
must bring seed of a thousand
men and women, to those of
the middle the seed of six
hundred, to those of the
lower, of three hundred. . . .
And make a door in the en-
closure, and a self-luminous
window on the inside.
33. Then Jima made the
enclosure.
39. Which are those lights,
thou just Ahuramazda, which
give light in the enclosures
made by Jima?
40. Ahuramazda answered:
Once (a year) the stars and
moon and the sun are there
seen to rise and set.
41. And they (who dwell
within Jima's enclosures)
think that one year is one day.
Every fortieth year two per-
sons are born by two per-
sons. These persons enjoy
the greatest bliss in the en-
closures made by Jima.
385
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
42. Just creator! Who
preached the pure faith in
the enclosures which Jima
made? Ahuramazda an-
swered: The bird Karshipta.
Jima's garden has accordingly been formed in connec-
tion with a terrible winter, which, in the first period of
time, visited the earth, and it was planned to preserve
that which is noblest and fairest and most useful within
the kingdoms of organic beings. That the garden is
situated in the lower world is not expressly stated in the
above-quoted passages from Vendidad ; though this seems
to be presupposed by what is stated ; for the stars, sun, and
moon do not show themselves in Jima's garden excepting
after long, defined intervals — at their rising and setting;
and as the surface of the earth is devastated by the
unparalleled frost, and as the valleys are no more pro-
tected therefrom than the mountains, we cannot without
grave doubts conceive the garden as situated in the upper
world. That it is subterranean is, however, expressly
stated in Bundehesh, ch. 30, 10, where it is located under
the mountain Damkan ; and that it, in the oldest period of
the myth, was looked upon as subterranean follows from
the fact that the Jima of the ancient Iranian records is
identical with Rigveda's Jama, whose domain and the
scene of whose activities is the lower world, the kingdom
of death.
As Jima's enclosed garden was established on account
of the fimbul-winter, which occurred in time's morning,
it continues to exist after the close of the winter, and pre-
386
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
serves through all the historical ages those treasures of
uncorrupted men, animals, and plants which in the begin-
ning of time were collected there. The purpose of this
is mentioned in Minokhird, a sort of catechism of the
legends and morals of the Avesta religion. There it is
said that after the conflagration of the world, and in the
beginning of the regeneration, the garden which Jima
made; shall open its gate, and thence men, animals and
plants shall once more fill the devastated earth.
The lower world, where Jima, according to the ancient
Iranian records, founded this remarkable citadel, is,
according to Rigveda, Jama's kingdom, and also the king-
dom of death, of which Jama is king (Rigv., x. 16, 9 ; cp.
i. 35, 6, and other passages). It is a glorious country,
with inexhaustible fountains, and there is the home of the
imperishable light (Rigv., ix. 7, 8,; ix. 113, 8). Jama
dwells under a tree "with broad leaves." There he
gathers around the goblet of mead the fathers of antiquity,
and there he drinks with the gods (Rigv., x. 135, 1).
Roth, and after him Abel Bergaigne (Religion Ved.,
i. 88 ff.), regard Jama and Manu, mentioned in Rigveda,
as identical. There are strong reasons for the assumption,
so far as certain passages of Rigveda are concerned;
while other passages, particularly those which mention
Manu by the side of Bhriga, refer to an ancient patriarch
of human descent. If the derivation of the word Mimer,
Miml, pointed out by several linguists, last by Mullenhoff
(Deutsche Alt., vol. v. 105, 106), is correct, then it is
originally the same name as Manu, and like it is to be
referred to the idea of thinking, remembering.
387
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
What the Aryan-Asiatic myth here given has in com-
mon with the Teutonic one concerning the subterranean
persons in Mimer's grove can be summarised in the fol-
lowing words :
The lower world has a ruler, who does not belong to the
group of immortal celestial beings, but enjoys the most
friendly relations with the godhead, and is the possessor
of great wisdom. In his kingdom flow inexhaustible
fountains, and a tree grown out of its soil spreads its
foliage over his dwelling, where he serves the mead of
inspiration, which the gods are fond of and which he was
the first to prepare. A terrible winter threatened to des-
troy everything on the surface of the earth. Then the
ruler of the lower world built on his domain a well-forti-
fied citadel, within which neither destructive storms, nor
physical ills, nor moral evil, nor sickness, nor aging, nor
death can come. Thither he transferred the best and
fairest human beings to be found on earth, and decorated
the enclosed garden with the most beautiful and useful
trees and plants. The purpose of this garden is not sim-
ply to protect the beings collected there during the great
winter; they are to remain there through all historical
ages. When these come to an end, there comes a great
conflagration and then a regeneration of the world. The
renewed earth is to be filled with the beings who have been
protected by the subterranean citadel. The people who
live there have an instructor in the pure worship of the
gods and in the precepts of morality, and in accordance
with these precepts they are to live for ever a just and
happy life.
388
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
It should be added that the two beings whom the
Iranian ruler of the lower world is said to have honoured
are found or have equivalents in the Teutonic mythlogy.
Both are there put in theogonic connection with Mimer.
The one is the celestial lord of the wind, Vayush, Rig-
veda's Vayu-Vata. Vata is thought to be the same name
as Wodan, Odinn (Zimmer, Haupt's Zeitschr., 1875; cp.
Mannhardt and Kaegi). At all events, Vata's tasks are
the same as Odin's. The other is the primeval cow,
whose Norse name or epithet, Audhumla is preserved in
Gylfag., 6. Andhunla liberates from the frost-stones in
Chaos Bure, the progenitor of the Asa race, and his son
Bor is married to Mimer's sister Bestla, and with her
becomes the father of Odin (Havam., 140 ; Gylfag., 6).
55.
THE PURPOSE OP MIMER'S GROVE IN THE REGENERATION
OP THE WORLD.
We now know the purpose of Odaimakr, Mimer's land
and Mimer's grove in the world-plan of our mythology.
We know who the inhabitants of the grove are, and why
they, though dwellers in the lower world, must be living
persons, who did not come there through the gate of •death.
They must be living persons of flesh and blood, since the
human race of the regenerated earth must be the same.
Still the purpose of Mimer's land is not limited to
being, through this epoch of the world, a protection for
the fathers of the future world against moral and physical
corruption, and a seminary where Balder educates them in
389
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
virtue and piety. The grove protects, as we have seen,
the dsmegir during Ragnarok, whose flames do not pene-
trate thither. Thus the grove, and the land in which it
is situated, exist after the flames of Ragnarok are extin-
guished. Was it thought that the grove after the regen-
eration was to continue in the lower world and there stand
uninhabited, abandoned, desolate, and without a purpose
in the future existence of gods, men and things ?
The last moments of the existence of the crust of the
old earth are described as a chaotic condition in which
all elements are confused with each other. The sea rises,
overflows the earth sinking beneath its billows, and the
crests of its waves aspire to heaven itself (cp. Volusp.,
54, 2—Sigr fold i mar, with Hyndlulj., 42, 1-3— Haf
gengr hridium vid himinn sialfann, lidr land yfir). The
atmosphere, usurped by the sea, disappears, as it were
(loft bilar — Hyndlulj., 42, 4). Its snow and winds
(Hyndlulj., 42, 5-6) are blended with water and fire,
and form with them heated vapours, which "play" against
the vault of heaven (Volusp., 54, 7-8). One of the
reasons why the fancy has made all the forces and
elements of nature thus contend and blend was doubtless
to furnish a sufficiently good cause for the dissolution
and disappearance of the burnt crust of the earth. At all
events, the earth is gone when the rage of the elements
is subdued, and thus it is no impediment to the act of
regeneration which takes its beginning beneath the waves.
This act of regeneration consists in the rising from the
depths of the sea " a new earth, which on its very rising
possesses living beings and is clothed in green. The fact
390
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that it, while yet below the sea, could be a home for beings
which need air in order to breathe and exist, is not
necessarily to be regarded as a miracle in mythology.
Our ancestors only needed to have seen an air-bubble rise
to the surface of the water in order to draw the conclusion
that air can be found under the water without mixing with
it, but with the power of pushing water away while it
rises to the surface. The earth rising from the sea has,
like the old earth, the necessary atmosphere around it.
Under all circumstances, the seeress in Voluspa sees after
Ragnarok —
upp koma
audro sinni
iord or segi
ithia graena (str. 56).
The earth risen from the deep has mountains and cas-
cades, which, from their fountains in the fells, hasten to
the sea. The waterfalls contain fishes, and above them
soars the eagle seeking its prey (Volusp., 56, 5-8). The
eagle cannot be a survivor of the beings of the old earth.
It cannot have endured in an atmosphere full of fire and
steam, nor is there any reason why the mythology should
spare the eagle among all the creatures of the old earth.
It is, therefore, of the same origin as the mountains, the
cascades, and the imperishable vegetation which suddenly
came to the surface.
The earth risen from the sea also contains human
beings, namely, Lif and Leifthraser, and their offspring.
Mythology did not need to have recourse to any hocus-
pocus to get them there. The earth risen from the sea
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
had been the lower world before it came out of the deep,
and a paradise-region in the lower world had for centuries
been the abode of Lif and Leifthraser. It is more than
unnecessary to imagine that the lower world with this
Paradise was duplicated by another with a similar Para-
dise, and that the living creatures on the former were
by some magic manipulation transferred to the latter.
Mythology has its miracles, but it also has its logic. As
its object is to be trusted, it tries to be as probable and
consistent with its premises as possible. It resorts to
miracles and magic only when it is necessary, not other-
wise.
Among the mountains which rise on the new earth are
found those which are called Nida fjoll (Volusp., 62),
Nide's mountains. The very name Nide suggests the
lower world. It means the "lower one." Among the
abodes of Hades, mentioned in Voluspa, there is also a
hall of gold on Nide's plains (a Nitha vollum — str. 36),
and from Solarljod (str. 56) we learn — a statement con-
firmed by much older records — that Nide is identical with
Mimer (see No. 87). Thus, Nide's mountains are
situated on Mimer's fields. Voluspa's seeress discovers
on the rejuvenated earth Nidhog, the corpse-eating demon
of the lower world, flying, with dead bodies under his
wings, away from the rocks, where he from time imme-
morial had had his abode, and from which he carried
his prey to Nastrands (Volusp., 39). There are no more
dead bodies to be had for him, and his task is done.
Whether the last line of Voluspa has reference to Nidhog
or not, when it speaks of some one "who must sink," can-
392
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
not be determined. Mullenhoff (Deutsche Alt.) assumes
this to be the case, and he is probably right ; but as the text
has hon (she) not han (he) [nu mun hon seyquas], and
as I, in this work, do not base anything even on the most
probable text emendation, this question is set aside, and
the more so, since Voluspa's description of the regenerated
earth under all circumstances shows that Nidhog has
naught there to do but to fly thence and disappear. The
existence of Nide's mountains on the new earth confirms
the fact that it is identical with Mimer's former lower
world, and that Lif and Leifthraser did not need to move
from one world to another in order to get to the daylight
of their final destination.
Voluspa gives one more proof of this.
In their youth, free from care, the Asas played with
strange tablets. But they had the tablets only i arla-
daga, in the earliest time (Volusp., 8, 58). Afterwards,
they must in some way or other have lost them. The
Icelandic sagas of the middle ages have remembered this
game of tablets, and there we learn, partly that its strange
character consisted in the fact that it could itself take
part in the game and move the pieces, and partly that it
was preserved in the lower world, and that Gudmund-
Mimer was in the habit of playing with tablets (Fornalder
Sagas, i. 443; iii. 391-392; iii. 626, &c. In the last pas-
sages the game is mentioned in connection with the other
subterranean treasure, the horn.) If, now, the mythology
had no special reason for bringing the tablets from the
lower world before Ragnarok, then they naturally should
be found on the risen earth if the latter was Mimer's
393
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
domain before. Voluspa (str. 58) also relates that they
were found in its grass :
Thar muno eptir
undrsamligar
gullnar tavlor
i grasi finaz.
"There were the wonderful tablets found left in the
grass (Unas eptir)."
Thus, the tablet-game was refound in the grass, in
the meadows of the renewed earth, having from the
earliest time been preserved in Mimer's realm. Lif and
Leifthraser are found after Ragnarok on the earth of the
regenerated world, having had their abode there for a
long time in Mimer's domain. Nide's mountains, and
Nidhog with them, have been raised out of the sea,
together with the rejuvenated earth, since these mountains
are located in Mimer's realm. The earth of the new era
— the era of virtue and bliss — have, though concealed,
existed through thousands of years below the sin-stained
earth, as the kernel within the shell.
Remark — Voluspa (str. 56) calls the earth rising from
the sea idjagrcsna'.
Ser hon upp koma
audro sinni
iord or aegi
ithia graena.
The common interpretation is ithia grozna, "the ever
green" or "very green," and this harmonises well with the
idea preserved in the sagas mentioned above, where it
was stated that the winter was not able to devastate Gud-
394
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mund-Mimer's domain. Thus the idea contained in the
expression H adding jalands oskurna ax (see Nos. 72, 73)
recurs in Voluspa's statement that the fields unsown
yield harvests in the new earth. Meanwhile the com-
position idja-grcena has a perfectly abnormal appearance,
and awakens suspicion. Miillenhoff {Deutsche Alt.}
reads idja, grcena, and translates "the fresh, the green."
As a conjecture, and without basing anything on the
assumption ; I may be permitted to present the possibility
that idja is an old genitive plural of ida, an eddying body
of water. Ida has originally had a / in the stem (it is
related to id and idi), and this / must also have been
heard in the inflections. From various metaphors in the
old skalds we learn that they conceived the fountains of
the lower world as roaring and in commotion (e.g., Odre-
ris alda thytr in Einar Skalaglam and Bodnar bdra ter
vaxa in the same skald). If the conjecture is as correct
as it seems probable, then the new earth is characterised
as "the green earth of the eddying fountains," and the
fountains are those famous three which water the roots
of the world-tree.
56.
THE COSMOGRAPHY. CRITICISM ON GYIvFAGINNINC'S
COSMOGRAPHY.
In regard to the position of Ygdrasil and its roots in
the universe, there are statements both in Gylfaginning
and in the ancient heathen records. To get a clear idea,
freed from conjectures and based in all respects on
4 395
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
evidence, of how the mythology conceived the world-tree
and its roots, is of interest not only in regard to the
cosmography of the mythology, to which Ygdrasil sup-
plies the trunk and the main outlines, but especially in
regard to the mythic conception of the lower world and
the whole eschatology ; for it appears that each one of the
Ygdrasil roots stands not alone above its particular foun-
tain in the lower world but also over its peculiar lower-
world domain, which again has its peculiar cosmological
character and its peculiar eschatological end.
The first condition, however, for a fruitful investigation
is that we consider the heathen or heathen-appearing
records by themselves without mixing their statements
with those of Gylfaginning. We must bear in mind that
the author of Gylfaginning lived and wrote in the 13th
century, more than 200 years after the introduction of
Christianity in Iceland, and that his statements accord-
ingly are to be made a link in that chain of documents
which exist for the scholar, who tries to follow the fate
of the myths during a Christian period and to study
their gradual corruption and confusion.
This caution is the more important for the reason that
an examination of Gylfaginning very soon shows that the
whole cosmographical and eschatological structure which
it has built out of fragmentary mythic traditions is based
on a conception wholly foreign to Teutonic mythology,,
that is, on the conception framed by the scholars in
Frankish cloisters, and then handed down from chronicle
to chronicle, that the Teutons were descended from the
Trojans, and that their gods were originally Trojan chiefs
396
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and magicians. This "learned" conception found its way
to the North and finally developed its most luxurious and
abundant blossoms in the Younger Edda preface and in
certain other parts of that work.
Permit me to present in brief a sketch of how the cos-
mography and eschatology of Gylfaginning developed
themselves out of this assumption: — The Asas were
originally men, and dwelt in the Troy which was situated
on the centre of the earth, and which was identical with
Asgard (thar ncsst gerdu their ser borg i midjum heimi,
er kallat er Asgardr; that kollum ver Troj'a; thar bygdu
gudin ok czttir theirra ok gfordust thadan af morg tidindi
ok greinir Ixzdi a jord ok a lopti — ch. 9).
The first mythic tradition which supplies material for
the structure which Gylfaginning builds on this founda-
tion is the bridge Bifrost. The myth had said that this
bridge united the celestial abodes with a part of the uni-
verse situated somewhere below. Gylfaginning, which
makes the Asas dwell in Troy, therefore makes the gods
undertake an enterprise of the greatest boldness, that of
building a bridge from Troy to the heavens. But they
are extraordinary architects and succeed (Gudin gjordu
bru til himins af jordu. — ch. 13).
The second mythic tradition employed is Urd's foun-
tain. The myth had stated that the gods daily rode from
their celestial abodes on the bridge Bifrost to Urd's (sub-
terranean) fountain. Thence Gylfaginning draws the
correct conclusion that Asgard was supposed to be situated
at one end of the bridge and Urd's fountain near the
other. But from Gylfaginning's premises it follows that
397
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
if Asgard-Troy is situated on the surface of the earth
Urd's fountain must be situated in the heavens, and that
the Asas accordingly when they ride to Urd's fountain
must ride upward, not downward. The conclusion is
drawn with absolute consistency ("Hvern dag rida> cesir
thangat u$p um Bi frost" — ch. 15).
The third mythic tradition used as material is the
world-tree, which went (down in the lower world) to
Urd's fountain. According to Voluspa (19), this foun-
tain is situated beneath the ash Ygdrasil. The conclusion
drawn by Gylfaginning by the aid of its Trojan premises
is that since Urd's fountain is situated in the heavens,
and still under one of Ygdrasil's roots, this root must be
located still further up in the heavens. The placing of
the root is also done with consistency, so that we get the
following series of wrong localisations: — Down on the
earth, Asgard-Troy; thence up to the heavens the bridge
Bifrost ; above Bif rost, Urd's fountain ; high above Urd's
fountain, one of Ygdrasil's three roots (which in the
mythology are all in the lower world).
Since one of Ygdrasil's roots thus had received its place
far up in the heavens, it became necessary to place a
second root on a level with the earth, and the third one
was allowed to retain its position in the lower world.
Thus was produced a just distribution of the roots among
the three regions which in the conception of the middle
ages constituted the universe, namely, the heavens, the
•earth, and hell.
In this manner two myths were made to do service in
regard to one of the remaining Ygdrasil roots. The one
398
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
myth was taken from Voluspa, where it was learned that
Mimer's fountain is situated below the sacred world-tree;
the other was Grimnismal (31), where we are told that
frost-giants dwell under one of the three roots. At the
time when Gylfaginning was written, and still later, popu-
lar traditions told that Gudmund-Mimer was of giant
descent (see the middle-age sagas narrated above). From
this Gylfaginning draws the conclusion that Mimer was
a frost-giant, and it identifies the root which extends to
the frost-giants with the root that extends to Mimer's
fountain. Thus this fountain of creative power, of world-
preservation, of wisdom, and of poetry receives from
Gylfaginning its place in the abode of the powers of frost,
hostile to gods and to men, in the land of the frost-giants,
which Gylfaginning regards as being Jotunheim, border-
ing on the earth.
In this way Gylfaginning, with the Trojan hypothesis
as its starting-point, has gotten so far that it has separated
from the lower world with its three realms and three
fountains Urd's realm and fountain, they being transferred
to the heavens, and Mimer's realm and fountain, they
being transferred to Jotunheim. In the mythology these
two realms were the subterranean regions of bliss, and the
third, Nifelhel, with the regions subject to it, was the
abode of the damned. After these separations were
made, Gylfaginning, to be logical, had to assume that
the lower world of the heathens was exclusively a realm
of misery and torture, a sort of counterpart of the hell of
the Church. This conclusion is also drawn with due con-
sistency, and Ygdrasil's third root, which in the mytho-
399
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
logy descended to the well Hvergelmer and to the lower
world of the frost-giants, Nifelhel, Nifelheim, extends
over the whole lower world, the latter being regarded as
identical with Nifelheim and the places of punishment
therewith connected.
This result carries with it another. The goddess of the
lower world, and particularly of its domain of bliss, was
in the mythology, as shall be shown below, the goddess
of fate and death, Urd. also called Hel, when named after
the country over which she ruled. In a local sense, the
name Hel could be applied partly to the whole lower
world, which rarely happened, partly to Urd's and
Mimer's realms of bliss, which was more common, and
Hel was then the opposite of Nifelhel, which was solely
the home of misery and torture. Proofs of this shall be
given below. But when the lower world had been
changed to a sort of hell, the name Hel, both in its local
and in its personal sense, must undergo a similar change,
and since Urd (the real Hel) was transferred to the
heavens, there was nothing to hinder Gylfaginning from
substituting for the queen of the lower world Loke's
daughter cast down into Nifelhel and giving her.the name
Hel and the sceptre over the whole lower world.
This method is also pursued by Gylfaginning's author
without hesitation, although he had the best of reasons
for suspecting its correctness. A certain hesitancy might
here have been in order. According to the mythology,
the pure and pious Asa-god Balder comes to Hel, that is
to say, to the lower world, and to one of its realms of
bliss. But after the transformation to which the lower
400
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
world had been subjected in Gylfaginning' s system, the
descent of Balder to Hel must have meant a descent to
and a remaining in the world of misery and torture, and
a relation of subject to the daughter of Loke. This
should have awakened doubts in the mind of the author
of Gylfaginning. But even here he had the courage to
be true to his premises, and without even thinking of the
absurdity in which he involves himself, he goes on and
endows the sister of the Midgard-serpent and of the
Fenris-wolf with that perfect power which be fore belonged
to Destiny personified, so that the same gods who before
had cast the horrible child Loke down into the ninth
region of Nifelhel are now compelled to send a minister-
plenipotentiary to her majesty to treat with her and pray
for Balder's liberation.
But finally, there comes a point where the courage of
consistency fails Gylfaginning. The manner in which it
has placed the roots of the world-tree makes us first of all
conceive Ygdrasil as lying horizontal in space. An
attempt to make this matter intelligible can produce no
other picture of Ygdrasil, in accord with the statements
of Gylfaginning, than the following :
401
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The root over heaven
and over Urd's foun-
tain.
The root over Jotun-
heim and over Mi-
ner's well.
The root over the
lower world and
over Hvergelmer's
fountain.
Ygdrasil's trunk.
But Gylfaginning is not disposed to draw this con-
clusion. On the contrary, it insists that Ygdrasil stands
erect on its three roots. How we, then, are to conceive
its roots as united one with the other and with the trunk
of this it very prudently leaves us in ignorance, for this
is beyond the range of human imagination.
The contrast between the mythological doctrine in
regard to the three Ygdrasil roots, and Gylfaginning's
view of the subject may easily be demonstrated by the
following parallels:
The Mythology.
1. Ygdrasil has three roots.
2. All three roots are subter-
ranean.
Gylfaginning.
1. Ygdrasil has three roots.
2. One is in the lower
world; a second stands over
Jotunheim on a level with the
earth; a third stands over the
heavens.
402
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
3. To each root corresponds
a fountain and a realm in the
lower world. The lower world
consists of three realms, each
with its fountain and each
with its root.
4. Under one of the subter-
ranean roots dwells the god-
dess of death and fate, Urd,
who is also called Hel, and in
her realm is Urd's fountain.
5. Under the other (subter-
ranean) root dwells Mimer.
In his realm is Mimer's foun-
tain and Mimer's grove,
where a subterranean race of
men are preserved for the fu-
ture world. This root may,
therefore, be said to stand
over mennskir menn (Grim-
nersmal).
6. Under the third (subter-
ranean) root dwell frost-
giants. Under this root is the
well Hvergelmer, and the
realm of the frost-giants is
3. To each root corre-
sponds a fountain and a
realm; the realms are the
heavens, Jotunheim, and the
lower world, which are lo-
cated each under its root.
4. Under one of the roots,
that is the one which stands
over heaven, dwells Urd the
goddess of fate, and there is
Urd's fountain.
It is said that one of the
roots stands over mennskir
menn (Grimnersmal). By this
is meant, according to Gyl-
faginning, not the root over
Mimer's well, but the root
over Urd's fountain, near
which the Asas hold their
assemblies, for the Asas are
in reality men who dwelt on
earth in the city of Troy.
6. Under the third (and
only subterranean) root dwell
the souls of sinners and those
who have died from sickness
and age. Under this root is
403
U. OF ILL LIB.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Nifelhel (Nifelheim). Under
Nifelhel are nine regions of
torture.
7. The sister of the Mid-
gard-serpent and of the Fen-
ris-wolf was cast by the gods
into the regions of torture
under Nifelhel, and received
the rule over the places where
the damned are punished.
the well Hvergelmer and
the whole lower world. The
lower world is called Nifelhel
or Nifelheim, and contains
nine places of torture.
7. The sister of the Mid-
gard-serpent and of the Fen-
ris-wolf was cast by the gods
into the regions of torture
under Nifelhel, and received
the rule over the whole lower
world,which consists of Nifel-
hel with the nine regions of
torture.
8. As Hel means the lower
world, and as the sister of the
Midgard-serpent governs the
whole lower world, she is
meant by the personal Hel.
8. The name Hel can be ap-
plied to the whole lower
world, but means particularly
that region of bliss where
Urd's fountain is situated, for
Urd is the personal Hel. The
Loke-daughter in Nifelhel is
her slave and must obey her
commands.
Gylfaginning does not stop with the above results. It
continues the chain of its conclusions. After Hvergelmer
has been selected by Gylfaginning as the only fountain in
the lower world, it should, since the lower world has been
made into a sort of hell, be a fountain of hell, and in this
respect easily recognised by the Christian conception of the
middle ages. In this new character Hvergelmer becomes
the centre and the worst place in Gylfaginning' s descrip-
tion of the heathen Gehenna. No doubt because the old
dragon, which is hurled down into the abyss (Revelation,
chap. 20) , is to be found in the hell-fountain of the middle
404
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ages, Gylfaginning throws Nidhog down into Hvergel-
mer, which it also fills with serpents and dead bodies
found in Grimnismal (Str. 34, 35), where they have no
connection with Hvergelmer. According to Voluspa it
is in Nastrands that Nidhog sucks and the wolf tears the
dead bodies (ndir}. Gylfaginning follows Voluspa in
speaking of the other terrors in Nastrands, but rejects
Voluspa' s statements about Nidhog and the wolf, and
casts both these beasts down into the Hvergelmer foun-
tain. As shall be shown below, the Hvergelmer of the
mythology is the mother-fountain of all waters, and is
situated on a high plain in the lower world. Thence its
waters flow partly northward to Nifelheim, partly south
to the elysian fields of heathendom, and the waves sent
in the latter direction are shining, clear, and holy.
It was an old custom, at least in Iceland, that booths for
the accommodation of the visitors were built around a
remote thing-stead, or place for holding the parliament.
Gylfaginning makes its Trojan Asas follow the example of
the Icelanders, and put up houses around the thing-stead,
which they selected near Urd's fountain, after they had
succeeded in securing by Bi frost a connection between
Troy and heaven. This done, Gylfaginning distributes
as best it can the divine halls and abodes of bliss men-
tioned in the mythology between Troy on the earth and
the thing-stead in heaven.
This may be sufficient to show that Gylfaginning's pre-
tended account of the old mythological cosmography is,
on account of its making Troy the starting-point, and
doubtless also to some extent as a result of the Christian
405
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
methods of thought, with which the author interpreted
the heathen myths accessible to him, is simply a mon-
strous caricature of the mythology, a caricature which is
continued, not with complacency and assurance, but in
a confused and contradictory manner, in the eschatology
of Gylfaginning.
My chief task will now be to review and examine all
the passages in the Elder Edda's mythological songs,
wherein the words Hel and Nifelhel occur, in order to
find out in this manner in which sense or senses these
words are there employed, and to note at the same time all
the passages which may come in my way and which are
of importance to the myth concerning the lower world.
57.
THE WORD HEX IN LINGUISTIC USAGE.
The Norse Hel is the same word as the Gothic Halja,
the Old High German Hella, the Anglo-Saxon Hellia,
and the English Hell. On account of its occurrence with
similar signification in different Teutonic tongues in their
oldest linguistic monuments, scholars have been able to
draw the conclusion that the word points to a primitive
Teutonic Halja, meaning lower world, lower world divin-
ity. It is believed to be related to the Latin oc-cul-ere,
eel-are, clam, and to mean the one who "hides," "con-
ceals," "preserves."
When the books of the New Testament were for the
first time translated into a Teutonic tongue, into a Gothic
dialect, the translator, Ulfilas, had to find some way of
406
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
distinguishing with suitable words between the two realms
of the lower world mentioned in the New Testament,
Hades and Gehenna (geen a).
Hades, the middle condition, and the locality corres-
ponding to this condition, which contains both fields of
bliss and regions of torture, he translated with Halja,
doubtless because the signification of this word corres-
ponded most faithfully with the meaning of the word
Hades. For Gehenna, hell, he used the borrowed word
gaiainna.
The Old High German translation also reproduces
Hades with the word Hella. For Gehenna it uses two
expressions compounded with Hella. One of these, Hel-
lawisi, belongs to the form which afterwards predomi-
nated in Scandinavia. Both the compounds bear testi-
mony that the place of punishment in the lower world
could not be expressed with Hella, but it was necessary
to add a word, which showed that a subterranean place of
punishment was meant. The same word for Gehenna
is found among the Christian Teutons in England,
namely, Hellewite; that is to say, the Hellia,thatpartofthe
lower world where it is necessary to do penance (vite)
for one's sins. From England the expression doubtless
came to Scandinavia, where we find in the Icelandic Hel-
viti, in the Swedish Hdlvete, and in the Danish Helvede.
In the Icelandic literature it is found for the first time
in Hallfred, the same skald who with great hesitation
permitted himself to be persuaded by Olaf Trygveson to
abandon the faith of his fathers.
Many centuries before Scandinavia was converted to
407
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Christianity, the Roman Church had very nearly oblite-
rated the boundary line between the subterranean Hades
and Gehenna of the New Testament. The lower world
had, as a whole, become a realm of torture, though with
various gradations. Regions of bliss were no longer to be
found there, and for Hel in the sense in which Ulfilas used
Halja, and the Old High German translation Hella, there
was no longer room in the Christian conception. In the
North, Hel was therefore permitted to remain a heathen
word, and to retain its heathen signification as long as the
Christian generations were able or cared to preserve it.
It is natural that the memory of this signification should
gradually fade, and that the idea of the Christian hell
should gradually be transferred to the heathen Hel. This
change can be pretty accurately traced in the Old Norse
literature. It came slowly, for the doctrine in regard to
the lower world in the Teutonic religion addressed itself
powerfully to the imagination, and, as appears from a
careful examination, far from being indefinite in its out-
lines, it was, on the contrary, described with the clearest
lines and most vivid colours, even down to the minutest
details. Not until the thirteenth century could such a
description of the heathen Hel as Gylfaginning's be possi-
ble and find readers who would accept it. But not even
then were the memories (preserved in fragments from the
heathen days) in regard to the lower world doctrine so
confused, but that it was possible to present a far more
faithful (or rather not so utterly false) description there-
of. Gylfaginning's representation of the heathen Hades
is based less on the then existing confusion of the tradi-
408
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY*
tions than on the conclusions drawn from the author's own
false premises.
In determining the question, how far Hel among the
heathen Scandinavians has had a meaning identical with
or similar to that which Halja and Hella had among their
Gothic and German kinsmen — that is to say, the significa-
tion of a death-kingdom of such a nature that it could not
with linguistic propriety be used in translating Gehenna
— we must first consult that which really is the oldest
source, the usage of the spoken language in expressions
where Hel is found. Such expressions show by the very
presence of Hel that they have been handed down from
heathendom, or have been formed in analogy with old
heathen phrases. One of these modes of speech still
exists: i hjal (sla ihjal, svalta ihjal, frysa ihjal, &c.),
which is the Old Norse i Hel. We do not use this
expression in the sense that a person killed by a weapon,
famine, or frost is relegated to the abyss of torture. Still
less could the heathens have used it in that sense. The
phrase would never have been created if the word Hel
had especially conveyed the notion of a place of punish-
ment. Already in a very remote age i Hel had acquired
the abstract meaning to death, but in such a manner that
the phrase easily suggested the concrete idea — the realm
of death (an example of this will be given below) , What
there is to be said about i Hel also applies to such phrases
as bida Hel jar, to await Hel (death} ; buask til Hel jar, to
become equipped for the journey to Hel (to be shrouded) ;
liggja milli helms ok Heljar, to lie between this world and
Hel (between life and death) ; liggja a Heljar thremi, to
409
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
i
lie on Hel's threshold. A funeral could be called a Helfor
(a Hel-journey) ; fatal illness Helsott (Hel-sickness) ; the
deceased could be called Helgengnir (those gone to Hel).
Of friends it is said that Hel (death) alone could separate
them (Fornm., vii. 233).
Thus it is evident that Hel, in the more general local
sense of the word, referred to a place common for all the
dead, and that the word was used without any additional
suggestion of damnation and torture in the minds of those
employing it.
58.
THE WORD HEL IN VEGTAMSKVIDA AND IN VAFTHRUD-
NERSMAL.
When Odin, according to Vegtamskvida, resolved to get
reliable information in the lower world in regard to the
fate whch threatened Balder, he saddled his Sleipner and
rode thither. On the way he took he came first to
Nifelhel. While he was still in Nifelhel, he met on his
way a dog bloody about the breast, which came from
the direction where that division of the lower world is
situated, which is called Hel. Thus the rider and the
dog came from opposite directions, and the former con-
tinued his course in the direction whence the latter came.
The dog turned, and long pursued Odin with his barking.
Then the rider reached a foldvegr, that is to say, a road
along grass-grown plains. The way resounded under the
hoofs of the steed. Then Odin finally came to a high
dwelling which is called Heljarrann or Hel far rann. The
410
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
name of the dwelling shows that it was situated in Hel,
not in Nifelhel. This latter realm of the lower world
Odin now had had behind him ever since he reached the
green fields, and since the dog, evidently a watch of the
borders between Nifelhel and Hel, had left him in peace.
The high dwelling was decorated as for a feast, and mead
was served. It was, Odin learned, the abode where the
dsmegir longingly waited for the arrival of Balder. Thus
Vegtamskvida :
2. Raeid hann (Odin) nidr thathan
Niflhaeljar til,
maetti hann hvselpi
theim ser or haeliu kom.
3. Sa var blodugr
um briost framan
ok galldrs fodur
gol um laengi.
4. Framm raeid Odinn,
foldvaegr dundi,
ban kom at hafu
Haeliar ranni.
7. Her standr Balldri
of brugginn miodr.
Ok asmegir
i ofvseno.
Vegtamskvida distinguishes distinctly between Nifelhel
and Hel. In Hel is the dwelling which awaits the son of
the gods, the noblest and most pious of all the Asas. The
dwelling, which reveals a lavish splendour, is described as
the very antithesis of that awful abode which, according
5 411
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to Gylfaginning, belongs to the queen of the lower world.
In Vafthrudnersmal (43) the old giant says:
Fra iotna runom Of the runes of giants
oc allra goda and of all the gods
ec kann segia satt, I can speak truly;
thviat hvern hefi ec for I have been
heim um komit: in every world.
nio kom ec heima In nine worlds I came
fyr Niflhel nedan, below Nifelhel,
hinig deyja or Helio halir. thither die "halir" from Hel.
Like Vegtamskvida, so Vafthrudnersmal also distin-
guishes distinctly between Hel and Nifelhel, particularly
in those most remarkable words that thither, i.e., to Nifel-
hel and the regions subject to it, die "halir" from Hel.
Halir means men, human beings ; applied to beings in the
lower world halir means dead men, the spirits of deceased
human beings (cp. Allvism., 18, 6 ; 20, 6 ; 26, 6 ; 32, 6 ; 34,
6, with 28, 3). Accordingly, nothing less is here said than
that deceased persons who have come to the realm called
Hel, may there be subject to a second death, and that
through this second death they come to Nifelhel. Thus
the same sharp distinction is here made between life in
Hel and in Nifelhel as between life on earth and that in
Hel. These two subterranean realms must therefore
represent very different conditions. What these different
conditions are, Vafthrudnersmal does not inform us, nor
will I anticipate the investigation on this point; still less
will I appeal to Gylfaginning's assurance that the realms
of torture lie under Nifelhel, and that it is wicked men
(vandir menn} who are obliged to cross the border from
412
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Hel to Nifelhel. So far it must be borne in mind that it
was in Nifelhel Odin met the bloody dog-demon, who
barked at the Asa-majesty, though he could not hinder
the father of the mighty and protecting sorceries from
continuing his journey ; while it was in Hel, on the other
hand, that Odin saw the splendid abode where the dsmegir
had already served the precious subterranean mead for his
son, the just Balder. This argues that they who through
a second death get over the border from Hel to Nifelhel,
do not by this transfer get a better fate than that to
which Hel invites those who have died the first death.
Balder in the one realm, the blood-stained kinsman of
Cerberus in the other — this is, for the present, the only,
but not unimportant weight in the balance which is to
determine the question whether that border-line which a
second death draws between Hel and Nifelhel is the bound-
ary between a realm of bliss and a realm of suffering, and
in this case, whether Hel or Nifelhel is the realm of bliss.
This expression in Vafthrudnersmal, hinig deyja or
Helio halir, also forces to the front another question,
which as long as it remains unanswered, makes the former
question more complicated. If Hel is a realm of bliss,
and if Nifelhel with the regions subject thereto is a realm
of unhappiness, then why do not the souls of the damned
go at once to their final destination, but are taken first
to the realm of bliss, then to the realm of anguish and
pain, that is, after they have died the second death on
the boundary-line between the two? And if, on the con-
trary, Hel were the realm of unhappiness and Nifelhel
offered a better lot, then' why should they who are destined
413
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
for a better fate, first be brought to it through the world
of torture, and then be separated from the latter by a
second death before they could gain the more happy goal ?
These questions cannot be answered until later on.
59.
THE WORD HEX IN GRIMNERSMAL. HVERGELMER^S FOUN-
TAIN AND ITS DEFENDERS. THE BORDER MOUNTAIN
BETWEEN HEL AND NIEEI/HEL. THE WORD HEI/-
BLOTINN IN THORSDRAPA.
In Grimnersmal the word Hel occurs twice (str. 28,
31), and this poem is (together with Gylfaginning) the
only ancient record which gives us any information about
the well Hvergelmer under this name (str. 26, ff.).
From what is related, it appears that the mythology
conceived Hvergelmer as a vast reservoir, the mother-
fountain of all the waters of the world (thadan eigo votn
aull vega). In the front rank are mentioned a number
of subterranean rivers which rise in Hvergelmer, and seek
their courses thence in various directions. But the waters
of earth and heaven also come from this immense foun-
tain, and after completing their circuits they return
thither. The liquids or saps which rise in the world-
tree's stem to its branches and leaves around Herfather's
hall (Valhal) return in the form of rain to Hvergelmer
(Grimnersmal, 26).
Forty rivers rising there are named. (Whether they
were all found in the original text may be a subject of
doubt. Interpolators may have added from their own
414
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
knowledge.) Three of them are mentioned in other
records — namely, SUdr in Voluspa, 36, Gjoll in that
account of Hermod's journey to Hel's realm, which in its
main outlines was rescued by the author of Gylfaginning
(Gylfag., ch. 52), and Leiptr in Helge Hund., ii. 31 — and
all three are referred to in such a way as to prove that they
are subterranean rivers. Slid flows to the realms of tor-
ture, and whirls weapons in its eddies, presumably to hin-
der or frighten anybody from attempting to cross. Over
Gjoll there is a bridge of gold to Balder's subterranean
abode. Leiptr (which name means "the shining one") has
clear waters which are holy, and by which solemn oaths
are sworn, as by Styx. Of these last two rivers flowing
out of Hvergelmer it is said that they flow down to Hel
(falla til Hel jar, str. 28). Thus these are all subter-
ranean. The next strophe (29) adds four rivers — Kormt
and Ormt, and the two Kerlogar, of which it is said
that it is over these Thor must wade every day when he
has to go to the judgment-seats of the gods near the ash
Ygdrasil. For he does not ride like the other gods when
they journey down over Bi frost to the thingstead near
Urd's fountain. The horses which they use are named
in strophe 30, and are ten in number, like the asas, when
we subtract Thor who walks, and Balder and Hodr who
dwell in Hel. Nor must Thor on these journeys, in case
he wished to take the route by way of Bifrost, use the
thunder-chariot, for the flames issuing from it might set
fire to the Asa-bridge and make the holy waters glow
(str. 29). That the thunder-chariot also is dangerous
for higher regions when it is set in motion, thereof Thjo-
415
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dolf gives us a brilliant description in the poem Haust-
laung. Thor being for this reason obliged to wade across
four rivers before he gets to Urd's fountain, the beds of
these rivers must have been conceived as crossing the paths
travelled by the god journeying to the thingstead.
Accordingly they must have their courses somewhere in
Urd's realm, or on the way thither, and consequently they
too belong to the lower world.
Other rivers coming from Hvergelmer are said to turn
their course around a place called Hodd-goda (str. 27
ther hverfa um Hodd-goda}. This girdle of rivers,
which the mythology unites around a single place, seems
to indicate that this is a realm from which it is important
to shut out everything that does not belong there. The
name itself, Hodd-goda, points in the same direction.
The word hodd means that which is concealed (the treas-
ure), and at the same time a protected sacred place. In
the German poem Heliand the word hord, corresponding
to hodd, is used about the holiest of holies in the Jerusa-
lem temple. As we already know, there is in the lower
world a place to which these references apply, namely, the
citadel guarded by Delling, the elf of dawn, and decorated
by the famous artists of the lower world — a citadel in
which the dsmegir and Balder — and probably Hodr too,
since he is transferred to the lower world, and with Balder
is to return thence — await the end of the historical time
and the regeneration. The word goda in Hodd-goda
shows that the place is possessed by, or entrusted to,
beings of divine rank.
From what has here been stated in regard to Hvergel-
416
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mer it follows that the mighty well was conceived as
situated on a high water-shed, far up in a subterranean
mountain range, whence those rivers of which it is the
source flow down in different directions to different realms
of Hades. Of several of these rivers it is said that they
in their upper courses, before they reach Hel, flow in the
vicinity of mankind (gumnom ncer — str. 28, 7), which
naturally can have no other meaning than that the high
land through which they flow after leaving Hvergelmer
has been conceived as lying not very deep below the crust
of Midgard (the earth). Hvergelmer and this high land
are not to be referred to that division of the lower world
which in Grimnersmal is called Hel, for not until after
the rivers have flowed through the mountain landscape,
where their source is, are they said to falla til Heljar.
Thus (1) there is in the lower world a mountain ridge,
a high land, where is found Hvergelmer, the source of all
waters; (2) this mountain, which we for the present may
call Mount Hvergelmer, is the watershed of the lower
world, from which rivers flow in different directions ; and
(3) that division of the lower world which is called Hel
lies below one side of Mount Hvergelmer, and thence
receives many rivers. What that division of the lower
world which lies below the other side of Mount Hvergel-
mer is called is not stated in Grimnersmal. But from
Vafthrudnersmal and Vegtamskvida we already know that
Hel is bounded by Nifelhel. In Vegtamskvida Odin rides
through Nifelhel to Hel; in Vafthrudnersmal halir die
from Hel to Nifelhel. Hel and Nifelhel thus appear to
be each other's opposites, and to complement each other,
417
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and combined they form the whole lower world. Hence
it follows that the land on the other side of the Hvergel-
mer mountain is Nifelhel.
It also seems necessary that both these Hades realms
should in the mythology be separated from each other
not only by an abstract boundary line, but also by a
natural boundary — a mountain or a body of water — which
might prohibit the crossing of the boundary by persons
who neither had a right nor were obliged to cross. The
tradition on which Saxo's account of Gorm's journey to
the lower world is based makes Gorm and his men, when
from Gudmund-Mimer's realm they wish to visit the
abodes of the damned, first cross a river and then come
to a boundary which cannot be crossed, excepting by scala,
steps on the mountain wall, or ladders, above which the
gates are placed, that open to a city "resembling most a
cloud of vapour" (vaporanti maxime nubi simile — i.
425). This is Saxo's way of translating the name Nifel-
hel, just as he in the story about Hadding's journey to
the lower world translated Glasisvellir (the Glittering
Fields) with loca aprica.
In regard to the topography and eschatology of the
Teutonic lower world, it is now of importance to find out
on which opposite sides of the Hvergelmer mountain Hel
and Nifelhel were conceived to be situated.
Nifl, an ancient word, related to nebula and nephek
means fog, mist, cloud, darkness. Nifelhel means that
Hel which is enveloped in fog and twilight. The name
Hel alone has evidently had partly a more general appli-
cation to a territory embracing the whole kingdom of
418
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
death — else it could not be used as a part of the com-
pound word Nifelhel — partly a more limited meaning, in
which Hel, as in Vafthrudnersmal and Vegtamskvida,
forms a sharp contrast to Nifelhel, and from the latter
point of view it is that division of the lower world which
is not enveloped in mist and fog.
According to the cosmography of the mythology there
was, before the time when "Ymer lived," Nifelheim, a
world of fog, darkness, and cold, north of Ginungagap,
and an opposite world, that of fire and heat, south of the
empty abyss. Unfortunately it is only Gylfaginning that
has preserved for our time these cosmographical outlines,
but there is no suspicion that the author of Gylfaginning
invented them. The fact that his cosmographic descrip-
tion also mentions the ancient cow Audhumla, which is
nowhere else named in our mythic records, but is not
utterly forgotten in our popular traditions, and which is a
genuine Aryan conception, this is the strongest argument
in favour of his having had genuine authorities for his
theo-cosmogony at hand, though he used them in an
arbitrary manner. The Teutons may also be said to have
been compelled to construct a cosmogony in harmony with
their conception of that world with which they were best
acquainted, their own home between the cold North and
the warmer South.
Nifelhel in the lower world has its counterpart in
Nifelheim in chaos. Gylfaginning identifies the two (ch.
6 and 34). Forspjallsljod does the same, and locates
Nifelheim far to the north in the lower world (nordr at
Nifelheim — str. 26), behind Ygdrasil's farthest root,
419
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
under which the poem makes the goddess of night, after
completing her journey around the heavens, rest for a
new journey. When Night has completed such a journey
and come to the lower world, she goes northward in the
direction towards Nifelheim, to remain in her hall, until
Dag with his chariot gets down to the western horizon
and in his turn rides through the "horse doors" of Hades
into the lower world.
From this it follows that Nifelhel is to be referred to
the north of the mountain Hvergelmer, Hel to the south
of it. Thus this mountain is the wall separating Hel
from Nifelhel. On that mountain in the gate, or gates,
which in the Gorm story separates Gudmund-Mimer's
abode from those dwellings which resemble a "cloud of
vapour," and up there is the death boundary, at which
"halir" die for the second time, when they are transferred
from Hel to Nifelhel.
The immense water-reservoir on the brow of the moun-
tain, which stands under Ygdrasil's northern root, sends,
as already stated, rivers down to both sides — to Nifelhel
in the North and to Hel in the South. Of the most of
these rivers we now know only the names. But those of
which we do know more are characterised in such a
manner that we find that it is a sacred land to which
those flowing to the South towards Hel hasten their
course, and that it is an unholy land which is sought by
those which send their streams to the north down into
Nifelhel. The rivers Gjoll and Leiptr fall down into
Hel, and Gjoll is, as already indicated, characterised by
a bridge of gold, Leiptr by a shining, clear, and most holy
420
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
water. Down there in the South are found the mystic
Hodd-goda, surrounded by other Hel-rivers; Balder's
and the dsmegir's citadel (perhaps identical with Hodd-
goda) ; Mimer's fountain, seven times overlaid with gold,
the fountain of inspiration and of the creative force, over
which the "overshadowing holy tree" spreads its branches
(Voluspa), and around whose reed-wreathed edge the
seed of poetry grows (Eilif Gudrunson) ; the Glittering
Fields, with flowers which never fade and with harvests
which never are gathered; Urd's fountain, over which
Ygdrasil stands for ever green (Voluspa), and in whose
silver-white waters swans swim; and the sacred thing-
stead of the Asas, to which they daily ride down over
Bi frost. North of the mountain roars the weapon-hurling
Slid, and doubtless is the same river as that in whose
"heavy streams" the souls of nithings must wade. In the
North solu fjarri stands, also at Nastrands, that hall, the
walls of which are braided of serpents (Voluspa). Thus
Hel is described as an Elysium, Nifelhel with its subject
regions as a realm of unhappiness.
Yet a few words about Hvergelmer, from and to which
"all waters find their way." This statement in Grimners-
mal is of course true of the greatest of all waters, the
ocean. The myth about Hvergelmer and its subter-
ranean connection with the ocean gave our ancestors the
explanation of ebb- and flood-tide. High up in the
northern channels the bottom of the ocean opened itself
in a hollow tunnel, which led down to the "kettle-roarer,"
"the one roaring in his basin" (this seems to be the
meaning of Hvergelmir: /zzwr=kettle ; galm=Anglo
421
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Saxon gealm, a roaring). When the waters of the ocean
poured through this tunnel down into the Hades-well
there was ebb-tide ; when it returned water from its super-
abundance there was flood-tide (see Nos. 79, 80, 81).
Adam of Bremen had heard this tunnel mentioned in
connection with the story about the Frisian noblemen who
went by sea to the furthest north, came to the land of
subterranean giants, and plundered their treasures (see
No. 48). On the way up some of the ships of the
Frisians got into the eddy caused by the tunnel, and were
sucked with terrible violence down into the lower world.*
Charlemagne's contemporary, Paul Varnefrid (Diaco-
nus), relates in his history of the Longobardians that he
had talked with men who had been in Scandinavia.
Among remarkable reports which they gave him of the
regions of the far north was also that of a maelstrom,
which swallows ships, and sometimes even casts them up
again (see Nos. 15, 79, 80, 81).
Between the death-kingdom and the ocean there was,
therefore, one connecting link, perhaps several. Most
of the people who drowned did not remain* with Ran.
^gir's wife received them hospitably, according to the
Icelandic sagas of the middle age. She had a hall in the
bottom of the sea, where they were welcomed and offered
sess ok rekkju (seat and bed). Her realm was only an
ante-chamber to the realms of death (Kormak, Sona-
torrek).
*"Et ecce instabilis Oceani Euripus, ad initia qusedam fontis sui arcana
recurrens, infelices nautas jam desperates, immo de morte sola cogitantes,
vehementisslmo inrpetu traxit ad Chaos. Hanc dicunt esse voraglnem
abyssi, illud profundum, in quo fama est omnes maris recursus, qui decres-
cere videntur, absorber! et denuo removi, quod fluctuatio dici solet" (De sitit
Danive, ed. Mad., p. 159).
422
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The demon Nidhog, which by Gylfaginning is thrown
into Hvergelmer is, according to the ancient records, a
winged dragon flying about, one of several similar mon-
sters which have their abode in Nifelhel and those lower
regions, and which seek to injure that root of the world-
tree which is nearest to them, that is the northern one,
which stands over Nifelhel and stretches its rootlets south-
ward over Mount Hvergelmer and down into its great
water-reservoir (Grimnersmal, 34, 35). Like all the
Aryan mythologies, the Teutonic also knew this sort of
monsters, and did so long before the word "dragon"
{drake} was borrowed from southern kinsmen as a name
for them. Nidhog abides now on Nastrands, where, by
the side of a wolf-demon, it tortures ndir (corpses), now
on the Nida Mountains, whence the vala in Voluspa sees
him flying away with ndir under his wings. Nowhere
(except in Gylfaginning) is it said that he lives in the well
Hvergelmer, though it is possible that he, in spite of his
wings, was conceived as an amphibious being which also
could subsist in the water. Tradition tells of dragons
who dwell in marshes and swamps.
The other two subterranean fountains, Urd's and
Mimer's, and the roots of Ygdrasil standing over them,
are well protected against the influence of the foes of
creation, and have their separate guardians. Mimer, with
his sons and the beings subject to him, protects and guards
his root of the tree, Urd and her sisters hers, and to the
latter all the victorious gods of Asgard come every day
to hold counsel. Was the northern root of Ygdrasil,
which spreads over the realms of the frost-giants, of the
423
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
demons, and of the damned, and was Hvergelmer, which
waters this root and received sd important a position in
the economy of the world-tree, left in the mythology
without protection and without a guardian? Hvergel-
mer we know is situated on the watershed, where we have
the death-borders between Hel and Nifelhel fortified with
abysses and gates, and is consequently situated in the
immediate vicinity of beings hostile to gods and men.
Here, if anywhere, there was need o>f valiant and vigilant
watchers. Ygdrasil needs its northern root as well as the
others, and if Hvergelmer was not allowed undisturbed to
conduct the circuitous flow of all waters, the world would
be either dried up or drowned.
Already, long before the creation of the world, there
flowed from Hvergelmer that broad river called Elivdgar,
which in its extreme north froze into that ice, which, when
it melted, formed out of its dropping venom the primeval
giant Ymer (Vafthr., 31; Gylfag., 5). After creation
this river like Hvergelmer, whence it rises and Nifelhel,
into which it empties, become integral parts of the
northern regions of the lower world. Elivdgar, also
called Hraunn Hronn, sends in its upper course, where it
runs near the crust of the earth, a portion of its waters
up to it, and forms between Midgard and the upper
Jotunheim proper, the river Vimur, which is also called
Elivagar and Hraunn, like the parent stream (cp. Hymer-
skv., 5, 38; Grimnersm., 28; Skaldskaparm., ch. 3, 16,
18, 19, and Helg. Hj., 25). Elivagar separates the realm
of the giants and frost-giants from the other "worlds."
South of Elivagar the gods have an "outgard," a
424
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"saether" which is inhabited by valiant watchers — snotrir
vikingar they are called in Thorsdrapa, 8 — who are bound
by oaths to serve the gods. Their chief is Egil, the most
famous archer in the mythology (Thorsdrapa, 1, 8; cp.
Hymiskv., 7, 38 ; Skaldskap., ch. 16). As such he is also
called Orvandel (the one busy with the arrow). This
Egil is the guardian entrusted with the care of Hvergel-
mer and Elivagar. Perhaps it is for this reason that he
has a brother and fellow-warrior who is called Ide (Idi
from Ida, a fountain with eddying waters). The "sseter"
is called "Ides sseter" (Thorsdrapa, 1). The services
which he as watcher on Mt. Hvergelmer and on the Eliva-
gar renders to the regions of bliss in the lower world are
so great that, although he does not belong to the race of
the gods by birth or by adoption, he still enjoys among
the inhabitants of Hel so great honour and gratitude that
they confer divine honours on him. He is "the one wor-
shipped in Hel who scatters the clouds which rise storm-
threatening over the mountain of the lower world," hel-
blotinn hneitr undir-fjalfrs bliku (Thorsdr., 19). The
storm-clouds which Are, Hrcesvelgr, and other storm-
demons of Nifelheim send to the elysian fields of the
death-kingdom, must, in order to get there, surmount Mt.
Hvergelmer, but there they are scattered by the faithful
watchman. Now in company with Thor, and now alone,
Egil-Orvandel has made many remarkable journeys to
Jotunheim. Next after Thor, he was the most formid-
able foe of the giants, and in connection with Heimdal he
zealously watched their every movement. The myth in
regard to him is fully discussed in the treatise on the
425
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Ivalde-sons which forms a part of this work, and there
the proofs will be presented for the identity of Orvandel
and Egil. I simply desire to point out here, in order to
present complete evidence later, that Ygdrasil's northern
root and the corresponding part of the lower world also
had their defenders and watchmen, and I also wished to
call attention to the manner in which the name Hel is
employed in the word Helblotinn. We find it to be in
harmony with the use of the same word in those passages
of the poetic Edda which we have hitherto examined.
60.
THE WORD HEL IN SKIRNERSMAL. DESCRIPTION OF
NlEELHEIy. THE MYTHIC MEANING OE NAR, NAIR.
THE HADES-DIVISION OF THE FROST-GIANTS AND
SPIRITS OE DISEASE.
In Skirnersmal (strophe 21) occurs the expression
horfa ok snugga Heljar til. It is of importance to our
theme to investigate and explain the connection in which
it is found.
The poem tells that Frey sat alone, silent and longing,
ever since he had seen the giant Gymer's wonderfully
beautiful daughter Gerd. He wasted with love for her;
but he said nothing, since he was convinced in advance
that neither Asas nor Elves would ever consent to a
union between him and her. But when the friend of his
youth, who resided in Asgard, and in the poem is called
Skirner, succeeded in getting him to confess the cause of
his longing, it was, in Asgard, found necessary to do
426
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
something to relieve it, and so Skirner was sent to the
home of the giant to ask for the hand of Gerd on Prey's
behalf. As bridal gifts he took with him eleven golden
apples and the ring Draupnir. He received one of the
best horses of Asgard to ride, and for his defence Prey's
magnificient sword, "which fights of itself against the race
of giants." In the poem this sword receives the epithets
Tams-vondr (str. 26) and Gambanteinn (str. 32). Tams-
vondr, means the "staff that subdues;" Gambanteinn
means the "rod of revenge" (see Nos. 105, 116). Both
epithets are formed in accordance with the common poetic
usage of describing swords by compound words of which
the latter part is vondr or teinn. We find, as names for
swords, benvondr, blodvondr, hjaltvondr, hridvondr, hvit-
vondr, mordvondr, sarvondr, benteinn, eggteinn, h&va-
teinn, hjorteinn, hr&teinn, sarteinn, valteinn, mutelteinn.
Skirner rides over damp fells and the fields of giants,
leaps, after a quarrel with the watchman of Gymer's
citadel, over the fence, comes in to Gerd, is welcomed
with ancient mead, and presents his errand of courtship,
supported by the eleven golden apples. Gerd refuses
both the apples and the object of the errand. Skirner
then offers her the most precious treasure, the ring Draup-
nir, but in vain. Then he resorts to threats, He exhibits
the sword so dangerous to her kinsmen ; with it he will cut
off her head if she refuses her consent. Gerd answers
that she is not to be frightened, and that she has a father
who is not afraid to fight. Once more Skirner shows her
the sword, which also may fell her father (ser thu thenna
maki, mey, &c.), and he threatens to strike her with the
6 427
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"subduing staff," so that her heart shall soften, but too
late for her happiness, for a blow from the staff will
remove her thither, where sons of men never more shall
see her.
Tamsvendi ec thic drep,
enn ec thic temia mun,
mer! at minom munom;
that skaltu ganga
er thic gumna synir
sithan eva se (str. 26).
This is the former threat of death repeated in another
form. The former did not frighten her. But tihat which
now overwhelms her with dismay is the description Skir-
ner gives her of the lot that awaits her in the realm of
death, whither she is destined — she, the giant maid, if
she dies by the avenging wrath of the gods (gamban-
reidi). She shall then come to that region whith is
situated below the Na-gates (fyr ndgrindr nethan — str.
35), and which is inhabited by frost-giants who, as we
shall find, do not deserve the name mannasynir, even
though the word menn be taken in its most common sense,
and made to embrace giants of the masculine kind.
This phrase fyr ndgrindr nethan must have been a
stereotyped eschatological term applied to a particular
division, a particular realm in the lower wodd. In Loka-
senna (str. 63), Thor says to Loke, after the latter has
emptied his phials of rash insults upon the gods, that if
he does not hold his tongue the hammer M joiner shall
send him to Hel fyr ndgrindr nethan. Hel is here used
in its widest sense, and this is limited by the addition of
428
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the words "below the Na-gates," so as to refer to a partic-
ular division of the lower world. As we find by the
application of the phrase to Loke, this division is of such
a character that it is intended to receive the foes of the
Asas and the insulters of the gods.
The word Nagrind, which is always used in the plural,
and accordingly refers to more than one gate of the kind,
has as its first part ndr (pi. nair), which means corpse,
dead body. Thus Na-gates means Corpse-gates.
The name must seem strange, for it is not dead bodies,
but souls, released from their bodies left on earth, which
descend to the kingdom of death and get their various
abodes there. How far our heathen ancestors had a
more or less material conception of the soul is a question
which it is not necessary to discuss here (see on this point
No. 95). Howsoever they may have regarded it, the
very existence of a Hades in their mythology demon-
strates that they believed that a conscious and sentient
element in man was in death separated from the body
with which it had been united in life, and went down to
the lower world. That the body from which this con-
scious, sentient element fled was not removed to Hades, but
went in this upper earth to its disintegration, whether it
was burnt or buried in a mound or sunk to the bottom of
the sea, this our heathen ancestors knew just as well as
we know it. The people of the stone-age already knew
this.
The phrase Na-gates does not stand alone in our mytho-
logical eschatology. One of the abodes of torture lying
within the Na-gate is called Nastrands (Ndstrandir) , and
429
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
is described in Voluspa as filled with terrors. And the
victims, which Nidhog, the winged demon of the lower
world, there sucks, are called ndir framgenga, "the corpses
of those departed."
It is manifest that the word ndr thus used cannot have
its common meaning, but must be used in a special mytho-
logical sense, which had its justification and its explana-
tion in the heathen doctrine in regard to the lower world.
It not unfrequently happens that law-books preserve
ancient significations of words not found elsewhere in
literature. The Icelandic law-book Gragas (ii. 185)
enumerates four categories within which the word ndr is
applicable to a person yet living. Gallows-wzr, can be
called, even while living, the person who is hung; grave-
ndr, the person placed in a grave; skerry-war or rock-war
may, while yet alive, he be called who has been exposed
to die on a skerry or rock. Here the word ndr is accord-
ingly applied to persons who are conscious and capable of
suffering, but on the supposition that they are such per-
sons as have been condemned to a punishment which is not
to cease so long as they are sensitive to it.
And this is the idea on the basis of which the word
ndir is mythologically applied to the damned and tortured
beings in the lower world.
If we now take into account that our ancestors believed
in a second death, in a slaying of souls in Hades, then we
find that this same use of the word in question, which at
first sight could not but seem strange, is a consistent
development of the idea that those banished from Hel's
realms of bliss die a second time, when they are trans-
430
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ferred across the border to Nifelhel and the world of
torture. When they are overtaken by this second death
they are for the second time ndir. And, as this occurs at
the gates of Nifelhel, it was perfectly proper to call the
gates ndgrindr.
We may imagine that it is terror, despair, or rage
which, at the sight of the Na-gates, severs the bond
between the damned spirit and his Hades-body, and that
the former is anxious to soar away from its terrible
destination. But however this may be, the avenging
powers have runes, which capture the fugitive, put chains
on his Hades-body, and force him to feel with it. The
Sun-song, a Christian song standing on the scarcely
crossed border of heathendom, speaks of damned ones
whose breasts were risted (carved) with bloody runes,
and Havamal of runes which restore consciousness to
ndir. Such runes are known by Odin. If he sees in a
tree a gallows-war (zrirgil-ndr), then he can rist runes so
that the body comes down to him and talks with him (see
No. 70).
E'f ec se a tre uppi
vafa virgilna,
sva ec rist
oc i runom fac,
at sa gengr gumi
oc maelir vith mic (Havamal, 157).
Some of the subterranean ndir have the power of
motion, and are doomed to wade in "heavy streams."
Among them are perjurers, murderers, and adulterers
(Voluspa, 38). Among these streams is Vadgelmer, in
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which they who have slandered others find their far-reach-
ing retribution (Sigurdarkv., ii. 4). Other ndir have the
peculiarity which their appellation suggests, and receive
quiet and immovable, stretched on iron benches, their
punishment (see below). Saxo, who had more elaborate
descriptions of the Hades of heathendom than those which
have been handed down to our time, translated or repro-
duced in his accounts of Hadding's and Gorm's journeys
in the lower world the word ndir with exsanguia simulacra
(p. 426).
That place after death with which Skirner threatens the
stubborn Gerd is also situated within the Na-gates, but
still it has another character than Nastrands and the other
abodes of torture which are situated below Nifelhel. It
would also have been unreasonable to threaten a person
who rejects a marriage proposal with those punishments
which overtake criminals and nithings. The Hades
division, which Skirner describes as awaiting the giant-
daughter, is a subterranean Jotunheim, inhabited by
deceased ancestors and kinsmen of Gerd.
Mythology has given to the giants as well as to men a
life hereafter. As a matter of fact, mythology never
destroys life. The horse which was cremated with its
master on his funeral pyre, and was buried with him in
his grave-mound, afterwards brings the hero down to
Hel. When the giant who built the Asgard wall got
into conflict with the gods, Thor's hammer sent him
"down below Nifelhel" (nidr undir Niflhel — Gylfag.,
ch. 43.) King Gorm saw in the lower world the giant
Geirrod and both his daughters. According to Grimners-
432
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mal (str. 31), frost-giants dwell under one of Ygdrasil's
roots — consequently in the lower world; and Forspjalls-
Ijod says that hags (giantesses) and thurses (giants),
ndir, dwarfs, and swarthy elves go to sleep under the
world-tree's farthest root on the north border of Jormun-
grund* (the lower world), when Dag on a chariot spark-
ling with precious stones leaves the lower world, and when
Nat after her journey on the heavens has returned to her
home (str. 24, 28). It is therefore quite in order if we,
in Skirner's description of the realm which after death
awaits the giant-daughter offending the gods, rediscover
that part of the lower world to which the drowned prime-
val ancestors of the giant-maid were relegated when Bor's
sons opened the veins of Ymer's throat (Sonatorr., str.
3) and then let the billows of the ocean wash clean the
rocky ground of earth, before they raised the latter from
the sea and there created the inhabitable Midgard.
The frost-giants (rimethurses) are the primeval giants
(gigantes) of the Teutonic mythology, so called because
they sprang from the frost-being Ymer, whose feet by
contact with each other begat their progenitor, the
"strange-headed" monster Thrudgelmer (Vafthr. 29, 33).
Their original home in chaos was Nifelheim. From the
Hvergelmer fountain there the Elivagar rivers flowed to
the north and became hoar-frost and ice, which, melted
by warmth from the south, were changed into drops of
venom, which again became Ymer, called by the giants
Aurgelmer (Vafthr., 31; Gylfag., 5). Thrudgelmer
*With this name of the lower world compare Gudmund-Mimer's abode
d Grund (see No. 45), and Helligrund (Heliand., 44, 22), and neowla grund
(Caedmon, 267, 1, 270, 16).
433
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
begat Bergelmer countless winters before the earth was
made (Vafthr., 29 ; Gylf., ch. 7). Those members of the
giant race living in Jotunheim on the surface of the earth,
whose memory goes farthest back in time, can remember
Bergelmer when he a var ludr um lagidr. At least Vafth-
rudmer is able to do this (Vafthr., 35).
When the original giants had to abandon the fields
populated by Bor's sons (Voluspa, 4), they received an
abode corresponding as nearly as possible to their first
home, and, as it seems, identical with it, excepting that
Nifelheim now, instead of being a part of chaos, is an
integral part of the cosmic universe, and the extreme north
of its Hades. As a Hades-realm it is also called Nifelhel.
In the subterranean land with which Skirner threatens
Gerd, and which he paints for her in appalling colours,
he mentions three kinds of beings — (1) frost-giants, the
ancient race of giants; (2) demons; (3) giants of the
later race.
The frost-giants occupy together one abode, which,
judging from its epithet, hall (holl), is the largest and
most important there ; while those members of the younger
giant clan who are there, dwell in single scattered abodes,
called gards.* Gerd is also there to have a separate
abode (str. 28).
Two frost-giants are mentioned by name, which shows
that they are representatives of their clan. One is named
Rimgrimner (Hrimgrimnir — str. 35), the other Rimner
(Hrimnir — str. 28).
Grimner is one of Odin's many surnames (Grimners-
*Compare the phrase iotna gaurthum i (str. 30, 3) with til hrimthursa
hallar (30, 4).
434
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mal, 47, and several other places; cp. Egilsson's Lex.
Poet.) . Rimgrimner means the same as if Odin had said
Rim-Odin, for Odin's many epithets could without hesita-
tion be used by the poets in paraphrases, even when these
referred to a giant. But the name Odin was too sacred
for such a purpose. Upon the whole the skalds seem
piously to have abstained from using that name in para-
phrases, even when the latter referred to celebrated princes
and heroes. Glum Geirason is the first known exception to
the rule. He calls a king Mdlm-Odinn. The above
epithet places Rimgrimner in the same relation to the
frost-giants as Odin-Grimner sustains to the asas; it
characterises him as the race-chief and clan-head of the
former, and in this respect gives him the same place as
Thrudgelmer occupies in Vafthrudnersmal. Ymer can-
not be regarded as the special clan-chief of the frost-
giants, since he is also the progenitor of other classes of
beings (see Vafthr., 33, and Voluspa, 9; cp. Gylfag., ch.
14). But they have other points of resemblance. Thrud-
gelmer is "strange-headed" in Vafthrudnersmal; Rim-
grimner is "three-headed" in Skirnersmal (str. 31; cp.
with str. 35). Thus we have in one poem a "strange-
headed" Thrudgelmer as progenitor of the frost-giants;
in the other poem a "three-headed" Rimgrimner as pro-
genitor of the same frost-giants. The "strange-headed"
giant of the former poem, which is a somewhat indefinite
or obscure phrase, thus finds in "three-headed" of the
latter poem its further definition. To this is to be added
a power which is possessed both by Thrudgelmer and
Rimgrimner, and also a weakness for which both Thrud-
435
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
gelmer and Rimgrimner are blamed. Thrudgelmer s
father begat children without possessing gygjar gaman
(Vafthr., 32). That Thrudgelmer inherited this power
from his strange origin and handed it down to the clan
of frost-giants, and that he also inherited the inability to
provide for the perpetuation of the race in any other way,
is evident from Allvismal, str. 2. If we make a careful
examination, we find that Skirnersmal presupposes this
same positive and negative quality in Rimgrimner, and
consequently Thrudgelmer and Rimgrimner must be
identical.
Gerd, who tries to reject the love of the fair and
blithe Vana-god, will, according to Skirner's threats, be
punished therefor in the lower world with the complete
loss of all that is called love, tenderness, and sympathy.
Skirner says that she either must live alone and without a
husband in the lower world, or else vegetate in a useless
cohabitation (nara) with the three-headed giant (str. 31).
The threat is gradually emphasised to the effect that she
shall be possessed by Rimgrimner, and this threat is made
immediately after the solemn conjuration (str. 34) in
which Skirner invokes the inhabitants of Nifelhel and also
of the regions of bliss, as witnesses, that she shall never
gladden or be gladdened by a man in the physical sense
of this word.
Hear, ye giants, Heyri iotnar,
Hear, frost-giants, heyri hrimthursar,
Ye sons of Suttung — synir Suttunga,
Nay, thou race of the Asa-god!* — sjalfir aslithar
*With race of the Asa-god dslidar there can hardly be meant others
than the dsmegir gathered in the lower world around 'Balder. This is the
only place where the word dslidar occurs.
436
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
how I forbid, hve ec fyr byd,
how I banish hve ec fyrir banna
man's gladness from the maid, manna glaum mani
man's enjoyment from the maid! manna nyt mani.
Rimgrimner is the giant's name Hrimgrimner heiter thurs,
who shall possess thee er thic hafa seal
below the Na-gates. fyr nagrindr nedan.
More plainly, it seems to me, Skirner in speaking to Gerd
could not have expressed the negative quality of Rim-
grimner in question. Thor also expresses himself clearly
on the same subject when he meets the dwarf Alvis carry-
ing home a maid over whom Thor has the right of mar-
riage. Thor says scornfully that he thinks he discovers
in Alvis something which reminds him of the nature of
thurses, although Alvis is a dwarf and the thurses are
giants, and he further defines wherein this similarity con-
sists : thursa lid thicci mer a ther vera; erat thu till bntdar
borinn: "Thurs' likeness you seem to me to have; you
were not born to have a bride." So far as the positive
quality is concerned it is evident from the fact that Rim-
grimner is the progenitor of the frost-giants.
Descended to Nifelhel, Gerd must not count on a
shadow of friendship and sympathy from her kinsmen
there. It would be best for her to confine herself in the
solitary abode which there awaits her, for if she but
looks out of the gate, staring gazes shall meet her from
Rimner and all the others down there ; and she shall there
be looked upon with more hatred than Heimdal, the
watchman of the gods, who is the wise, always vigilant
foe of the rime-thurses and giants. But whether she is at
home or abroad, demons and tormenting spirits shall
437
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
never leave her in peace. She shall be bowed to the earth
by tramar (evil witches). Morn (a Teutonic Eumenides,
the agony of the soul personified) shall fill her with his
being. The spirits of sickness — such also dwell there;
they once took an oath not to harm Balder (Gylf., ch.
50) — shall increase her woe and the flood of her tears.
Tope (insanity), Ope (hysteria), Tjausul and Othale
(constant restlessness), shall not leave her in peace.
These spirits are also counted as belonging to the race of
thurses, and hence it is said in the rune-song that thurs
veldr kvenna kvillu, "thurs causes sickness of women."
In this connection it should be remembered that the
daughter of Loke, the ruler of Nifelhel, is also the queen
of diseases. Gerd's food shall be more loathsome to her
than the poisonous serpent is to man, and her drink shall
be the most disgusting. Miserable she shall crawl among
the homes of the Hades giants, and up to a mountain top,
where Are, a subterranean eagle-demon has his perch
(doubtless the same Are which, according to Voluspa
[47] , is to join with his screeches in Rymer's shield-song,
when the Midgard-serpent writhes in giant-rage, and the
ship of death, Naglfar, gets loose). Up there she shall
sit early in the morning, and constantly turn her face in
the same direction — in the direction where Hel is situated,
that is, south over Mt. Hvergelmer, toward the subter-
ranean regions of bliss. Toward Hel she shall long to
come in vain :
Ara thufo a
scaltu ar sitja
horfa ok snugga Heljar til.
438
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"On Are's perch thou shalt early sit, turn toward Hel,
and long to get to Hel."
By the phrase snugga Heljar til, the skald has meant
something far more concrete than to "long for death."
Gerd is here supposed to be dead, and within the Na-gates.
To long for death, she does not need to crawl up to "Are's
perch." She must subject herself to these nightly exer-
tions, so that when it dawns in the foggy Nifelhel, she
may get a glimpse of that land of bliss to which she may
never come; she who rejected a higher happiness — that
of being with the gocjs and possessing Frey's love.
I have been somewhat elaborate in the presentation of
this description in Skirnersmal, which has not hitherto
been understood. I have done so, because it is the only
evidence left to us of how life was conceived in the fore-
court of the regions of torture, Nifelhel, the land situated
below Ygdrasil's northern root, beyond and below the
mountain, where the root is watered by Hvergelmer. It
is plain that the author of Skirnersmal, like that of Vafth-
rudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Vegtamskvida, and Thors-
drapa (as we have already seen), has used the word Hel
in the sense of a place of bliss in the lower world. It is
also evident that with the root under which the frost-
giant dwells that one, referred to by Gylfaginning, can
impossibly be meant under which Mimer's glorious foun-
tain, and Mimer's grove, and all his treasures stored for
a future world, are situated.
439
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
61.
WORD HElv IN VOLUSPA. WHO THE INHABITANTS OF
ARE.
We now pass to Voluspa, 40 (Hauk's Codex), where
the word Helvegir occurs.
One of the signs that Ragnarok and the fall of the
world are at hand, is that the mighty ash Ygdrasil
trembles, and that a fettered giant-monster thereby gets
loose from its chains. Which this monster is, whether
it is Garm, bound above the Gnipa cave, or some other,
we will not now discuss. The astonishment and con-
fusion caused by these events among all the beings of the
world, are described in the poem with but few words,
but they are sufficient for the purpose and well calculated
to make a deep impression upon the hearers. Terror is
the predominating feeling in those beings which are not
chosen to take part in the impending conflict. They, on
the other hand, for whom the quaking of Ygdrasil is the
signal of battle for life or death, either arm themselves
amid a terrible war-cry for the battle (the giants, str. 41),
or they assemble to hold the last council (the Asas), and
then rush to arms.
Two classes of beings are mentioned as seized by terror
— the dwarfs, who stood breathless outside of their stone-
doors, and those beings which are a Helvcgum. Helvegir
may mean the paths or ways in Hel : there are many paths,
just as there are many gates and many rivers. Helvegir
may also mean the regions, districts in Hel (cp. Austr-
vegr, Sudruegr, Norvegr; and Allvism., 10, according to
440
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which the Vans call the earth vegir, ways). The author
may have used the word in either of these senses or in
both, for in this case it amounts to the same. At all
events it is stated that the inhabitants in Hel are terrified
when Ygdrasil quakes and the unnamed giant-monster
gets loose.
Skelfr Yggdrasils Quakes Ygdrasil's
askr standandi, Ash standing,
ymr hid alldna tre The old tree trembles,
enn iotunn losnar; The giant gets loose;
hraedaz allir All are frightened
a Helvegum On the Helways (in Hel's regions)
adr Surtar thann ere Surt's spirit (or kinsman)
sevi of gleypir. swallows him (namely, the giant).
Suit's spirit, or kinsman (sevi, sefi may mean either),
is, as has also hitherto been supposed, the fire. The final
episode in the conflict on Vigrid's plain is that the Muspel-
flames destroy the last remnant of the contending giants.
The terror which, when the world-tree quaked and the
unnamed giant got loose, took possession of the inhabit-
ants of Hel continues so long as the conflict is undecided.
Valfather falls, Frey and Thor likewise; no one can know
who is to be victorious. But the terror ceases when on
the one hand the liberated giant-monster is destroyed, and
on the other hand Vidar and Vale, Mode and Magne,
survive the conflict and survive the flames, which do not
penetrate to Balder and Hodr and their proteges in Hel.
The word thann (him), which occurs in the seventh line
of the strophe (in the last of the translation) can impossi-
bly refer to any other than the giant mentioned in the
441
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fourth line (iotunn}. There are in the strophe only two
masculine words to which the masculine thann can be
referred — iotunn and Yggdrasils askr. lotunn, which
stands nearest to thann, thus has the preference ; and as we
have seen that the world-tree falls by neither fire nor edge
(Fjolsv., 20), and as it, in fact, survives the conflagration
of Suit, then thann must naturally be referred to the
iotunn.
Here Voluspa has furnished us with evidence in regard
to the position of Hel's inhabitants towards the contending
parties in Ragnarok. They who are frightened when a
giant-monster — a most dangerous one, as it hitherto had
been chained — gets free from its fetters, and they whose
fright is allayed when the monster is destroyed in the con-
flagration of the world, such beings can impossibly
follow this monster and its fellow warriors with their
good wishes. Their hearts are on the side of the good
powers, which are friendly to mankind. But they do not
take an active part in their behalf ; they take no part what-
ever in the conflict. This is manifest from the fact that
their fright does not cease before the conflict is ended.
Now we know that among the inhabitants in Hel are the
dsmegir Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring, and that
they are not hertharfir; they are not to be employed in
war, since their very destiny forbids their taking an active
part in the events of this period of the world (see No. 53).
But the text does not permit us to think of them alone
when we are to determine who the beings a Helvegum are.
For the text says that all, who are a Helvegum, are
alarmed until the conflict is happily ended. What the
442
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
interpreters of this much abused passage have failed to
see, the seeress in Voluspa has not forgotten, that, namely,
during the lapse of countless thousands of years, innumer-
able children and women, and men who never wielded
the sword, have descended to the kingdom of death and
received dwellings in Hel, and that Hel — in the limited
local sense which the word hitherto has appeared to have
in the songs of the gods — does not contain warlike inhabi-
tants. Those who have fallen on the battle-field come,
indeed, as shall be shown later, to Hel, but not to remain
there; they continue their journey to Asgard, for Odin
chooses one half of those slain on the battlefield for his
dwelling, and Freyja the other half ( Grimnersmal, 14).
The chosen accordingly have Asgard as their place of
destination, which they reach in case they are not found
guilty by a sentence which neutralises the force and
effect of the previous choice (see below), and sends them
to die the second death on crossing the boundary to
Nifelhel. Warriors who have not fallen on the battle-
field are as much entitled to Asgard as those fallen by the
sword, provided they as heroes have acquired fame and
honour. It might, of course, happen to the greatest
general and the most distinguished hero, the conqueror in
hundreds of battles, that he might die from sickness or an
accident, while, on the other hand, it might be that a man
who never wielded a sword in earnest might fall on the
field of battle before he had given a blow. That the
mythology should make the latter entitled to Asgard, but
not the former, is an absurdity as void of support in the
records — on the contrary, these give the opposite testi-
7 443
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mony — as it is of sound sense. The election contained
for the chosen ones no exclusive privilege. It did not
even imply additional favour to one who, independently
of the election, could count on a place among the einherjes.
The election made the person going to battle feigr, which
was not a favour, nor could it be considered the opposite.
It might play a royal crown from the head of the chosen
one to that of his enemy, and this could not well be
regarded as a kindness. But for the electing powers of
Asgard themselves the election implied a privilege. The
dispensation of life and death regularly belonged to the
norns; but the election partly supplied the gods with an
exception to this rule, and partly it left to Odin the right
to determine the fortunes and issues of battles. The
question of the relation between the power of the gods and
that of fate — a question which seemed to the Greeks and
Romans dangerous to meddle with and well-nigh impossi-
ble to dispose of — was partly solved by the Teutonic
mythology by the. naive and simple means of dividing
the dispensation of life and death between the divinity
and fate, which, of course, did not hinder that fate always
stood as the dark, inscrutable power in the background of
all events. (On election see further, No. 66).
It follows that in Hel's regions of bliss there remained
none that were warriors by profession. Those among
them who were not guilty of any of the sins which the
Asa-doctrine stamped as sins unto death passed through
Hel to Asgard, the others through Hel to Nifelhel. All
the inhabitants on Hel's elysian fields accordingly are the
dsmegir, and the women, children, and the agents of the
444
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
peaceful arts who have died during countless centuries,
and who unused to the sword, have no place in the ranks
of the einherjes, and therefore with the anxiety of those
waiting abide the issue of the conflict. Such is the back-
ground and contents of the Voluspa strophe. This would
long since have been understood, had not the doctrine
constructed by Gylfaginning in regard to the lower world,
with Troy as the starting-point, bewildered the judgment.
62.
THE WORD HEL IN ALLVISMAL. THE CLASSES OF BEINGS
IN
In Allvismal occurs the phrases : those i helio and halir.
The premise of the poem is that such objects as earth,
heaven, moon, sun, night, wind, fire, &c., are expressed in
six different ways, and that each one of these ways of
expression is, with the exclusion of the others, applicable
within one or two of the classes of beings found in the
world. For example, Heaven is called —
Himinn among men,
Lyrner among gods,
Vindofner among Vans,
Uppheim among giants.
Elves say Fager-tak (Fairy-roof),
dwarfs Drypsal (dropping-hall) (str. 12).
In this manner thirteen objects are mentioned, each one
with its six names. In all of the thirteen cases man has
a way of his own of naming the objects. Likewise the
giants. No other class of beings has any of the thirteen
445
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
appellations in common with them. On the other hand,
the Asas and Vans have the same name for two objects
(moon and sun) ; elves and dwarfs have names in common
for no less than six objects (cloud, wind, fire, tree, seed,
mead) ; the dwarfs and the inhabitants of the lower
world for three (heaven, sea, and calm). Nine times it
is stated how those in the lower world express themselves.
In six of these nine cases Allvismal refers to the inhabi-
tants of the lower world by the general expression "those
in Hel;" in three cases the poem lets "those in Hel" be
represented by some one of those classes of beings that
reside in Hel. These three are upregin (str. 10), dsasy-
nir (str. 16), and halir (str. 28).
The very name upregin suggests that it refers to beings
of a certain divine rank (the Vans are in Allvismal called
ginnregin, str. 20^ 30) that have their sphere of activity
in the upper world. As they none the less dwell in the
lower world, the appellation must have reference to beings
which have their homes and abiding places in Hel when
they are not occupied with their affairs in the world
above. These beings are Nat, Dag, Mane, Sol.
Asasynir has the same signification as dsmegir. As
this is the case, and as the dsmegir dwell in the lower
world and the dsasynir likewise, then they must be identi-
cal, unless we should be credulous enough to assume that
there were in the lower world two categories of beings,
both called sons of Asas.
Halir, when the question is about the lower world,
means the souls of the dead (Vafthr., 43 ; see above).
From this we find that Allvismal employs the word
446
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Hel in such a manner that it embraces those regions where
Nat and Dag, Mane and Sol, the living human inhabitants
of Mimer's grove, and the souls of departed human beings
dwell. Among the last-named are included also souls of
the damned, which are found in the abodes of torture
below Nifelhel, and it is within the limits of possibility
that the author of the poem also had them in mind,
though there is not much probability that he should con-
ceive them as having a nomenclature in common with
gods, asmegw, and the happy departed. At all events,
he has particularly — and probably exclusively — had in his
mind the regions of bliss when he used the word Hel, in
which case he has conformed in the use of the word to
Voluspa, Vafthrudnersmal, Grimnersmal, Skirnersmal,
Vegtamskvida, and Thorsdrapa.
63.
THE WORD HEL IN OTHER PASSAGES. THE RESULT OF THE
INVESTIGATION FOR THE COSMOGRAPHY AND FOR THE
MEANING OE THE WORD HEL. HEL IN A LOCAL,
SENSE THE KINGDOM OE DEATH, PARTICULARLY ITS
REALMS OF BLISS. HEL IN A PERSONAL SENSE IDEN-
TICAL WITH THE GODDESS OF FATE AND DEATH, THAT
IS, URD.
While a terrible winter is raging, the gods, according
to Forspjallsljod,* send messengers, with Heimdal as
chief, down to a lower-world goddess (dis), who is
*Of the age and genuineness of Forspjallsljod I propose to publish a
separate treatise.
447
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
designated as Gj oil's (the lower world river's) Sunna
(Sol, sun) and as the distributor of the divine liquids
(str. 9, 11) to beseech her to explain to them the mystery
of creation, the beginning of heaven, of Hel, and of the
world, life and death, if she is able (hlyrnis, heliar, helms
of vissi, drtith, aft, aldrtila). The messengers get only
tears as an answer. The poem divides the universe into
three great divisions: heaven, Hel, and the part lying
between Hel and heaven, the world inhabited by mortals.
Thus Hel is here used in its general sense, and refers to
the whole lower world. But here, as wherever Hel has this
general signification, it appears that the idea of regions of
punishment is not thought of, but is kept in the back-
ground by the definite antithesis in which the word Hel,
used in its more common and special sense of the subter-
ranean regions of bliss, stands to Nifelhel and the regions
subject to it. It must be admitted that what the anxious
gods wish to learn from the wise goddess of the lower
world must, so far as their desire to know and their fears
concern the fate of Hel, refer particularly to the regions
where Urd's and Mimer's holy wells are situated, for if the
latter, which water the world-tree, pass away, it would
mean nothing less than the end of the world. That the
author should make the gods anxious concerning Loke's
daughter, whom they had hurled into the deep abysses of
Nifelhel, and that he should make the wise goddess by
Gjoll weep bitter tears over the future of the sister of the
Fenris-wolf, is possible in the sense that it cannot be
refuted by any definite words of the old records ; but we
may be permitted to regard it as highly improbable.
448
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Among the passages in which the word Hel occurs in
the poetic Edda's mythological songs we have yet to men-
tion Harbardsljod (str. 27), where the expression drepa i
Hel is employed in the same abstract manner as the
Swedes use the expression "at sla ihjal/' which means
simply "to kill" (it is Thor who threatens to kill the in-
sulting Harbard) ; and also Voluspa (str. 42), Fjolls-
vinnsmal (str. 25), and Grimnersmal (str. 31).
Voluspa (str. 42), speaks of Goldcomb, the cock which,
with its crowing, wakes those who sleep in Herfather's
abode, and of a sooty-red cock which crows under the
earth near Hel's halls. In Fjollsvinnsmal (str. 25),
Svipdag asks with what weapon one might be able to
bring down to Hel's home (a Heljar sjot) that golden
cock Vidofner, which sits in Mimer'stree(thQ world-tree),
and doubtless is identical with Goldcomb. That Vidol-
ner has done nothing for which he deserves to be punished
in the home of Loke's daughter may be regarded as prob-
able. Hel is here used to designate the kingdom of death
in general, and all that Spivdag seems to mean is that Vid-
ofner, in case such a weapon could be found, might be
transferred to his kinsman, the sooty-red cock which crows
below the earth. Saxo also speaks of a cock which is
found in Hades, and is with the goddess who has the
cowbane stalks when she shows Hadding the flower-
meadows of the lower world, the Elysian fields of those
fallen by the sword, and the citadel within which death
does not seem able to enter (see No. 47). Thus there is
at least one cock in the lower world's realm of bliss.
That there should be one also in Nifelhel and in the abode
449
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of Loke's daughter is nowhere mentioned, and is hardly
credible, since the cock, according to an ancient and wide-
spread Aryan belief, is a sacred bird, which is the special
foe of demons and the powers of darkness. According
to Swedish popular belief, even of the present time, the
crowing of the cock puts ghosts and spirits to flight ; and
a similar idea is found in Avesta (Vendidad, 18), where,
in str. 15, Ahuramazda himself translates the morning
song of the cock with the following words: "Rise, ye
men, and praise the justice which is the most perfect!
Behold the demons are put to flight!" Avesta is naively
out of patience with thoughtless persons who call this
sacred bird (Parodarsch) by the so little respect-inspiring
name "Cockadoodledoo" (Kahrkat&s). The idea of the
sacredness of the cock and its hostility to demons was also
found among the Aryans of South Europe and survived
the introduction of Christianity. Aurelius Prudentius
wrote a Hymnus ad galli cantum, and the cock has as a
token of Christian vigilance received the same place on
the church spires as formerly on the world-tree. Nor
have the May-poles forgotten him. But in the North
the poets and the popular language have made the red
cock a symbol of fire. Fire has two characters — it is
sacred, purifying, and beneficent, when it is handled care-
fully and for lawful purposes. In the opposite case it is
destructive. With the exception of this special instance,
nothing but good is reported of the cocks of mythology
and poetry.
Grimnersmal (str. 31) is remarkable from two points
of view. It contains information — brief and scant, it is
450
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
true, but nevertheless valuable — in regard to Ygdrasil's
three roots, and it speaks of Hel in an unmistakable, dis-
tinctly personal sense.
In regard to the roots of the world-tree and their po-
sition, our investigation so far, regardless of Grimners-
mal (str. 31), has produced the following result:
Ygdrasil has a northern root. This stands over the
vast reservoir Hvergelmer and spreads over Nifelhel,
situated north of Hvergelmer and inhabited by frost-
giants. There nine regions of punishment are situated,
among them Nastrands.
Ygdrasil's second root is watered by Mimer's fountain
and spreads over the land where Mimer's fountain and
grove are located. In Mimer's grove dwell those living
(not dead) beings called Asmeglr and Asasynir, L,if and
Leifthraser and their offspring, whose destiny it is to peo-
ple the regenerated earth.
Ygdrasil's third root stands over Urd's fountain and
the subterranean thingstead of the gods.
The lower world consists of two chief divisions • Nifel-
hel (with the regions thereto belonging) and Hel, —
Nifelhel situated north of the Hvergelmer mountain, and
Hel south of it. Accordingly both the land where Mi-
mer's well and grove are situated and the land where
Urd's fountain is found are within the domain Hel.
In regard to the zones or climates, in which the roots
are located, they have been conceived as having a south-
ern and northern. We have already shown that the root
over Hvergelmer is the northern one. That the root over
Urd's fountain has been conceived as the southern one
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
is manifest from the following circumstances. Eilif Gud-
runson, who was converted to Christianity — the same
skald who wrote the purely heathen Thorsdrapa — says
in one of his poems, written after his conversion, that
Christ sits sunnr at Urdarbrunni, in the south near Urd's
fountain, an expression which he could not have used un-
less his hearers had retained from the faith of their child-
hood the idea that Urd's fountain was situated south of
the other fountains. Forspjallsljod puts upon Urd's foun-
tain the task of protecting the world-tree against the de-
vastating cold during the terrible winter which the poem
describes. Othhrarir skyldi Urthar geyma m&ttk at veria
mestum thorra. — "Urd's Odreirer (mead-fountain)
proved not to retain strength enough to protect against
the terrible cold." This idea shows that the sap which
Ygdrasil's southern root drew from Urd's fountain was
thought to be warmer than the saps of the other wells.
As, accordingly, the root over Urd's well was the south-
ern, and that over Hvergelmer and the frost-giants the
northern, it follows that Mimer's well was conceived as
situated between those two. The memory of this fact
Gylfaginning has in its fashion preserved, where in chap-
ter 15 it says that Mimer's fountain is situated where
Ginungagap formerly was — that is, between the northern
Nifelheim and the southern warmer region (Gylfagin-
ning's "Muspelheim").
Grimnersmal (str. 31) says:
Thrir raetr standa Three roots stand
a thria vega on three ways
undan asci Yggdrasils: below Ygdrasil's ash:
452
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Hel byr und einni, Hel dwells under one,
annari hrimthursar, under another frost-giants,
thridio mennzkir menn. under a third human-"men."
The root under which the frost-giants dwell we already
know as the root over Hvergelmer and the Nifelhel in-
habited by frost-giants.
The root under which human beings, living persons,
mennskir menn, dwell we also know as the one over Mi-
mer's well and Mimer's grove, where the human beings
Lif and Leifthraser and their offspring have their abode,
where jord lifanda manna is situated.
There remains one root : the one under which the god-
dess of fate, Urd, has her dwelling. Of this Grimners-
mal says that she who dwells there is named Hel.
Hence it follows of necessity that the goddess of fate,
Urd, is identical with the personal Hel, the queen of the
realm of death, particularly of its regions of bliss. We
have seen that Hel in its local sense has the general signifi-
cation, the realm of death, and the special but most fre-
quent signification, the elysium of the kingdom of death.
As a person, the meaning of the word Hel must be analo-
gous to its signification as a place. It is the same idea
having a personal as well as a local form.
The conclusion that Urd is Hel is inevitable, unless we
assume that Urd, though queen of her fountain, is not
the regent of the land where her fountain is situated.
One might then assume Hel to be one of Urd's sisters,
but these have no prominence as compared with herself.
One of them, Skuld, who is the more known of the two,
is at the same time one of Urd's maid-servants, a valkyrie,
453
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
who on the battlefield does her errands, a feminine psycho-
messenger who shows the fallen the way to Hel, the realm
of her sisters, where they are to report themselves ere
they get to their destination. Of Verdandi the records
tell us nothing but the name, which seems to preclude the
idea that she should be the personal Hel.
This result, that Urd is identical with Hel; that she
who dispenses life also dispenses death ; that she who with
her serving sisters is the ruler of the past, the present, and
the future, also governs and gathers in her kingdom all
generations of the past, present, and future — this result
may seem unexpected to those who, on the authority of
Gylfaginning, have assumed that the daughter of Loke
cast into the abyss of Nifelhel is the queen of the king-
dom of death ; that she whose threshold is called Precipice
(Gylfag., 34) was the one who conducted Balder over
the threshold to the subterranean citadel glittering with
gold; that she whose table is called Hunger and whose
knife is called Famine was the one who ordered the clear,
invigorating mead to be placed before him; that the sis-
ter of those foes of the gods and of the world, the Mid-
gard-serpent and the Fenris-wolf, was entrusted with the
care of at least one of Ygdrasil's roots ; and that she whose
bed is called Sickness, jointly with Urd and Mimer, has
the task of caring for the world-tree and seeing that it is
kept green and gets the liquids from their fountains.
Colossal as this absurdity is, it has been believed for
centuries. And in dealing with an absurdity which is
centuries old, we must consider that it is a force which
does not yield to objections simply stated, but must be
454
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
conquered by clear and convincing- arguments. Without
the necessity of travelling the path by which I have
reached the result indicated, scholars would long since
have come to the conviction that Urd and the personal Hel
are identical, if Gylfaginning and the text-books based
thereon had not confounded the judgment, and that for
the following reasons:
The name Urdr corresponds to the Old English Vurd,
Vyrd, Vird, to the Old Low German Wurth, and to the
Old High German Wurt. The fact that the word is
found in the dialects of several Teutonic branches indi-
cates, or is thought by the linguists to indicate, that it
belongs to the most ancient Teutonic timeSj when it prob-
ably had the form Vorthi.
There can be no doubt that Urd also among other Teu-
tonic branches than the Scandinavian has had the mean-
ing of goddess of fate. Expressions handed down from
the heathen time and preserved in Old English docu-
ments characterise Vyrd as tying the threads or weaving
the web of fate (Cod. Ex., 355; Beowulf, 2420), and as
the one who writes that which is to happen (Beowulf,
4836). Here the plural form is also employed, Vyrde,
the urds, the norns, which demonstrates that she in
England, as in the North, was conceived as having sisters
or assistants. In the Old Low German poem "Heliand/'
Wurth's personality is equally plain.
But at the same time as Vyrd, Wurth, was the goddess
of fate, she was also that of death. In Beowulf (4831,
4453) we find the parallel expressions:
455
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
him vas Vyrd ungemete neah: Urd was exceedingly near
to him;
vas dead ungemete neah: death was exceedingly near.
And in Heliand, 146, 2 ; 92, 2 :
Thiu Wurth is at handun: Urd is near;
Dod is at hendi: death is near.
And there are also other expressions, as Thiu Wurth
ndhida thus: Urd (death) then approached; Wurth ina
benam: Urd (death) took him away (cp. J. Grimm,
Deutsche Myth., i. 373).
Thus Urd, the goddess of fate, was, among the Teu-
tonic branches in Germany and England, identical with
death, conceived as a queen. So also in the North. The
norns made laws and chose life and orlog (fate) for the
children of time (Voluspa). The word orlog (Nom. PI. ;
the original meaning seems to be urlagarne, that is, the
original laws) frequently has a decided leaning to the
idea of death (cp. Voluspa: Bk sd Baldri orlog folgin}.
Hakon Jarl's orlog was that Kark cut his throat (Nj.,
156). To receive the "judgment of the norns" was iden-
tical with being doomed to die (Yng., Heimskringla, ch.
52). Fate and death were in the idea and in usage so
closely related, that they were blended into one person-
ality in the mythology. The ruler of death was that one
who could resolve death; but the one who could deter-
mine the length of life, and so also could resolve death,
and the kind of death, was, of course, the goddess of fate.
They must blend into one.
In the ancient Norse documents we also find the name
456
.
> THE GIANT THRYM.
-nakio
> •
m ..
•ovi<1
i
.-c
•
the »1
''
^^^^wrrrry *
.Vurth is at h
other expre:
(death) then
-< i
cttfe-i;
'
ly related, r
the mytl:
;Id resol
the length
!:ind of deat-1
st blend
\vas that
could d<
<! resolve d<
goddess
• ' the
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Urd used to designate death, just as in Heliand and Beo-
wulf, and this, too, in such a manner that Urd's personal
character is not emphasised. Ynglingatal (Heimskr.,
ch. 44) calls Ingjald's manner of death his Urdr, and to
determine death for anyone was to draga Urdr at him.
Far down in the Christian centuries the memory sur-
vived that Urd was the goddess of the realm of death
and of death. When a bright spot, which was called
Urd's moon, appeared on the wall, it meant the breaking
out of an epidemic (Eyrbyggia Saga, 270). Even as
late as the year 1237 Urd is supposed to have revealed
herself, the night before Christmas, to Snobjorn to pre-
dict a bloody conflict, and she then sang a song in which
she said that she went mournfully to the contest to choose
a man for death. Saxo translates. Urdr or Hel with
"Proserpina" (Hist., i. 43).
64.
URD'S MAID-SERVANTS : (1) MAID-SERVANTS OF UEE
NORNS, DISKS OF BIRTH, HAMINGJES, GIPTES,
FYLGIES; (2) MAID-SERVANTS OE DEATH — VAI,-
KYRIES, THE PSYCHO-MESSENGERS OE DISEASES AND
ACCIDENTS.
As those beings for whom Urd determines birth, posi-
tion in life, and death, are countless, so her servants, who
perform the tasks commanded by her as queen, must also
be innumerable. They belong to two large classes: the
one class is active in her service in regard to life, the other
in regard to death.
457
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Most intimately associated with her are her two sis-
ters. With her they have the authority of judges. Com-
pare Voluspa, 19, 20, and the expressions norna domr,
norna kiridr. And they dwell with her under the world-
tree, which stands for ever green over her gold-clad foun-
tain.
As maid-servants under Urd there are countless
hamingjes (fylgjes) and giptes (also called gafes,
audnes, heilles). The hamingjes are fostered among be-
ings of giant-race (who hardly can be others than the
norns and Mimer). Three mighty rivers fall down into
the world, in which they have their origin, and they come
wise in their hearts, soaring over the waters to our upper
world (Vafthr., 48, 49). There every child of man is to
have a hamingje as a companion and guardian spirit.
The testimony of the Icelandic sagas of the middle ages in
this regard are confirmed by phrases and forms of speech
which have their root in heathendom. The hamingjes
belong to that large circle of feminine beings which are
called discs, and they seem to have been especially so
styled. What Urd is on a grand scale as the guardian
of the mighty Ygdrasil, this the hamingje is on a smaller
scale when she protects the separate fruit produced on
the world-tree and placed in her care. She does not ap-
pear to her favourite excepting perhaps in dreams or
shortly before his death (the latter according to Helgakv.
Hjorv. the prose; Njal, 62; Hallf, ch. 11; proofs from
purely heathen records are wanting). In strophes which
occur in Gisle Surson's saga, and which are attributed
(though on doubtful grounds) to this heathen skald, the
458
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
hero of the saga, but the origin of which (from a time
when the details of the myth were still remembered) is
fully confirmed by a careful criticism, it is mentioned how
he stood between good and evil inspirations, and how the
draumkona (dream- woman) of the good inspirations said
to him in sleep : "Be not the first cause of a murder ! ex-
cite not peaceful men against yourself ! — promise me this,
thou charitable man ! Aid the blind, scorn not the lame,
and insult not a Tyr robbed of his hand!" These are
noble counsels, and that the naming jes were noble beings
was a belief preserved through the Christian centuries
in Iceland, where, according to Vigfusson, the word
hamingja is still used in the sense of Providence. They
did not usually leave their favourite before death. But
there are certain phrases preserved in the spoken language
which show that they could leave him before death. He
who was abandoned by his hamingje and gipte was a lost
man. If the favourite became a hideous and bad man, then
his hamingja and gipta might even turn her benevolence
into wrath, and cause his well-deserved ruin. Uvar 'ro
disir, angry at you are the discs ! cries Odin to the royal
nithing Geirrod, and immediately thereupon the latter
stumbles and falls pierced by his own sword. That the
invisible hamingje could cause one to stumble and fall is
shown in Pornm., iii.
The giptes seem to have carried out such of Urd's re-
solves, on account of which the favourite received an un-
expected, as it were accidental, good fortune.
Not only for separate individuals, but also for families
and clans, there were guardian spirits (kynfylgjur, attar-
459
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Another division of this class of maid-servants under
Urd are those who attend the entrance of the child into
the world, and who have to weave the threads of the new-
born babe into the web of the families and events. Like
Urd and her sisters, they too are called norns. If it is a
child who is to be a great and famous man, Urd herself
and her sisters may be present for the above purpose (see
No. 30 in regard to Half dan's birth).
A few strophes incorporated in Fafnersmal from a
heathen didactic poem, now lost (Fafn., 12-15), speak of
norns whose task it is to determine and assist the arrival
of the child into this world. Nornir, er naudgaunglar 'ro
oc kjosa wuzdr frd maugum. The expression kjosa mcedr
frd maugum, "to choose mothers from descendants,"
seems obscure, and can under all circumstances not mean
simply "to deliver mothers of children." The word
kjosa is never used in any other sense than to choose,
elect, select. Here it must then mean to choose, elect
as mothers; and the expression "from descendants" is
incomprehensible, if we do not on the one hand conceive
a crowd of eventual descendants, who at the threshold
of life are waiting for mothers in order to become born
into this world, and on the other hand women who are to
be mothers, but in reference to whom it has not yet been
determined which descendant each one is to call hers
among the great waiting crowd, until those norns which
we are here discussing resolve on that point, and from
the indefinite crowd of waiting megir choose mothers for
those children which are especially destined for them.
These norns are, according to Fafn., 13, of different
460
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
birth. Some are Asa-kinswomen, others of elf-race, and
again others are daughters of Dvalin. In regard to the
last-named it should be remembered that Dvalin, their
father, through artists of his circle} decorated the citadel,
within which a future generation of men await the regen-
eration of the world, and that the mythology has asso-
ciated him intimately with the elf of the morning dawn,
Delling, who guards the citadel of the race of regenera-
tion against all that is evil and all that ought not to enter
(see No. 53). There are reasons (see No. 95) for as-
suming that these discs of birth were Honer's maid-ser-
vants at the same time as they were Urd's, just as the
valkyries are Urd's and Odin's maid-servants at the same
time (see below).
To the other class of Urd's maid-servants belong those
lower-world beings which execute her resolves of death,
and conduct the souls of the dead to the lower world.
Foremost among the psycho-messengers (psycho-
pomps), the attendants of the dead, we note that group
of shield-maids called valkyries. As Odin and Freyja
got the right of choosing on the battlefield, the valkyries
have received Asgard as their abode. There they bring
the mead-horns to the Asas and einherjes, when they do
not ride on Valfather's errands (Voluspa, 31 ; Grimners-
mal, 36; Eiriksm., 1; Ulf Ugges. Skaldsk., 238). But
the third of the norns, Skuld, is the chief one in this
group (Voluspa, 31), and, as shall be shown below, they
for ever remain in the most intimate association with Urd
and the lower world.
461
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
65.
ON THE COSMOGRAPHY. THE WAY OF THOSE FALLEN BY
THE SWORD TO VALHAL IS THROUGH THE LOWER
WORLD.
The modern conception of the removal of those fallen
by the sword to Asgard is that the valkyries carried them
immediately through blue space to the halls above. The
heathens did not conceive the matter in this manner.
It is true that the mythological horses might carry
their riders through the air without pressing a firm foun-
dation with their hoofs. But such a mode of travel was
not the rule, even among the gods, and, when it did hap-
pen, it attracted attention even among them. Compare
Gylfaginning, i. 118, which quotes strophes from a
heathen source. The bridge Bifrost would not have been
built or established for the daily connection between As-
gard and Urd's subterranean realm if it had been unnec-
essary in the mythological world of fancy. Mane's way
in space would not have been regarded as a road in the
concrete sense, that quakes and rattles when Thor's thun-
der-chariot passes over it (Haustl, Skaldsk., ch. 16),
had it not been thought that Mane was safer on a firm
road than without one of that sort. To every child that
grew up in the homes of our heathen fathers the question
must have lain near at hand, what such roads and bridges
were for, if the gods had no advantage from them. The
mythology had to be prepared for such questions, and in
this, as in others cases, it had answers wherewith to sat-
isfy that claim on causality and consistency which even
462
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the most naive view of the world presents. The answer
was : If the Bifrost bridge breaks under its riders, as is
to happen in course of time, then their horses would have
to swim in the sea of air (Bilraust brotnar, er their a bru
fara, oc svima i modo marir — Fafn., 15., compare a
strophe of Kormak, Kormak's Saga, p. 259, where the
atmosphere is called the fjord of the gods, Dia fjordr).
A horse does not swim as fast and easily as it runs. The
different possibilities of travel are associated with different
kinds of exertion and swiftness. The one method is
more adequate to the purpose than the other. The solid
connections which were used by the gods and which the
mythology built in space are, accordingly, objects of ad-
vantage and convenience. The valkyries, riding at the
head of their chosen heroes, as well as the gods, have
found solid roads advantageous, and the course they took
with their favourites was not the one presented in our
mythological text-books. Grimnersmal (str. 21; see No.
93) informs us that the breadth of the atmospheric sea
is too great and its currents too strong for those riding on
their horses from the battlefield to wade across.
In the 45th chapter of Egil Skallagrimson's saga we
read how Egil saved himself from men, whom King
Erik Blood-axe sent in pursuit of him to Saud Isle.
While they were searching for him there, he had stolen to
the vicinity of the place where the boat lay in which those
in pursuit had rowed across. Three warriors guarded
the boat. Egil succeeded in surprising them, and in giv-
ing one of them his death-wound ere the latter was able
to defend himself. The second fell in a duel on the
463
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
strand. The third, who sprang into the boat to make it
loose, fell there after an exchange of blows. The saga
has preserved a strophe in which Egil mentions this ex-
ploit to his brother Thorolf and his friend Arinbjorn,
whom he met after his flight from Saud Isle. There he
says:
at thrytnreynis thjonar
thrir nokkurrir Hlakkar,
til hasalar Heljar
helgengnir, for dvelja.
"Three of those who serve the tester of the valkyrie-
din (the warlike Erik Blood-axe) will late return; they
have gone to the lower world, to Hel's high hall."
The fallen ones were king's men and warriors. They
were slain by weapons and fell at their posts of duty, one
from a sudden, unexpected wound, the others in open con-
flict. According to the conception of the mythological
text-books, these sword-slain men should have beeen con-
ducted by valkyries through the air to Valhal. But the
skald Egil, who as a heathen born about the year 904,
and who as a contemporary of the sons of Harald Fair-
hair must have known the mythological views of his fel-
low-heathen believers better than the people of our time,
assures us positively that these men from King Erik's
body-guard, instead of going immediately to Valhal, went
to the lower world and to Hel's high hall there. He cer-
tainly would not have said anything of the sort, if those
for whom he composed the strophe had not regarded
this idea as both possible and correct.
The question now is : Does this Egil's statement stand
464
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
alone and is it in conflict with those other statements
touching the same point which the ancient heathen records
have preserved for us? The answer is, that in these
ancient records there is not found a single passage in con-
flict with Egil's idea, but that they all, on the contrary,
fully agree with his words, and that this harmony con-
tinues in the reports of the first Christian centuries in
regard to this subject.
All the dead and also those fallen by the sword come
first to Hel. Thence the sword-slain come to Asgard, if
they have deserved this destiny.
In Gisle Surson's saga (ch. 24) is mentioned the cus-
tom of binding Hel-shoes on the feet of the dead. War-
riors in regard to whom there was no doubt that Valhal
was their final destiny received Hel-shoes like all others,
that er tidska at binda nwnnum helsko, sem menn, skulo
a ganga till Valhallar. It would be impossible to ex-
plain this custom if it had not been believed that those
who were chosen for the joys of Valhal were obliged,
like all others, to travel a Helvegum. Wherever this
custom prevailed, Egil's view in regard to the fate which
immediately awaited sword-fallen men was general.
When Hermod betook himself to the lower world to
find Balder he came, as we know, to the golden bridge
across the river Gjoll. Urd's maid-servant, who watches
the bridge, mentioned to him that the day before five
fylki of dead men had rode across the same bridge. Con-
sequently all these dead are on horseback and they do not
come separately or a few at a time, but in large troops
called fylki, an expression which, in the Icelandic litera-
465
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ture, denotes larger or smaller divisions of an army —
legions, cohorts, maniples or companies in battle array;
and with fylki the verb fylkja, to form an army or a di-
vision of an army in line of battle, is most intimately
connected. This indicates with sufficient clearness that
the dead here in question are men who have fallen on the
field of battle and are on their way to Hel, each one
riding, in company with his fallen brothers in arms, with
those who belonged to his own fylki. The account pre-
supposes that men fallen by the sword, whose final des-
tination is Asgard, first have to ride down to the lower
world. Else we would not find these fylkes on a Hel-
way galloping across a subterranean bridge, into the same
realm as had received Balder and Nanna after death.
It has already been pointed out that Bifrost is the only
connecting link between Asgard and the lower regions
of the universe. The air was regarded as an ether sea
which the bridge spanned, and although the horses of
mythology were able to swim in this sea, the solid con-
nection was of the greatest importance. The gods used
the bridge every day (Grimnismal, Gylfaginning) .
Frost giants and mountain-giants are anxious to get pos-
session of it, for it is the key to Asgard. It therefore has
its special watchman in the keen-eyed and vigilant Heim-
dal. When in Ragnarok the gods ride to the last con-
flict they pass over Bifrost (Fafnersmal). The bridge
does not lead to Midgard. Its lower ends were not con-
ceived as situated among mortal men. It stood outside
and below the edge of the earth's crust both in the north
and in the south. In the south it descended to Urd's
466
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fountain and to the thingstead of the gods in the lower
world (see the accompanying drawing, intended to make
these facts intelligible). From this mythological topo-
graphical arrangement it follows of necessity that the
valkyries at the head of the chosen slain must take their
course through the lower world, by the way of Urd's
fountain and the thingstead of the gods, if they are to
ride on Bifrost bridge to Asgard, and not be obliged to
betake themselves thither on swimming horses.
n ft:K!>
t#ei» «f T»rt«»t
There are still two poems extant from the heathen
time, which describe the reception of sword-fallen kings
in Valhal. The one describes the reception of Erik
Blood-axe, the other that of Hakon the Good.
When King Erik, with five other kings and their at-
tendants of fallen warriors, come riding up thither, the
gods hear on their approach a mighty din, as if the foun-
dations of Asgard trembled. All the benches of Valhal
quake and tremble. What single probability can we now
conceive as to what the skald presupposed ? Did he sup-
pose that the chosen heroes came on horses that swim in
467
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the air, and that the movements of the horses in this
element produced a noise that made Valhal tremble?
Or that it is Bifrost which thunders under the hoofs of
hundreds of horses, and quakes beneath their weight?
There is scarcely need of an answer to this alternative.
Meanwhile the skald himself gives the answer. For the
skald makes Brage say that from the din and quaking
it might be presumed that it was Balder who was return-
ing to the halls of the gods. Balder dwells in the lower
world; the connection between Asgard and the lower
world is Bifrost : this connection is of such a nature that
it quakes and trembles beneath the weight of horses and
riders, and it is predicted in regard to Bifrost that in
Ragnarok it shall break under the weight of the host of
riders. Thus Brage's words show that it is Bifrost from
which the noise is heard when Erik and his men ride up
to Valhal. But to get to the southern end of Bifrost,
Erik and his riders must have journeyed in Hel, across
Gjoll, and past the thingstead of the gods near Urd's
well. Thus it is by this road that the psychopomps of
the heroes conduct their favourites to their final destina-
tion.
In his grand poem "Hakonarmal," Eyvind Skaldaspil-
ler makes Odin send the valkyries Gandul and Skagul "to
choose among the kings of Yngve's race some who are
to come to Odin and abide in Valhal." It is not said by
which road the two valkyries betake themselves to Mid-
gard, but when they have arrived there they find that a
battle is imminent between the Yngve descendants, Hakon
the Good, and the sons of Erik. Hakon is just putting
468
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
on his coat-of-mail, and immediately thereupon begins
the brilliantly-described battle. The sons of Erik are put
to flight, but the victor Hakon is wounded by an arrow,
and after the end of the battle he sits on the battlefield,
surrounded by his heroes, "with shields cut by swords
and with byrnies pierced by arrows." Gandul and Ska-
gul, "maids on horseback, with wisdom in their counte-
nances, with helmets on their heads, and with shields be-
fore them," are near the king. The latter hears that
Gandul, "leaning on her spear," says to Skagul that the
wound is to cause the king's death, and now a conversa-
tion begins between Hakon and Skagul, who confirms
what Gandul has said, and does so with the following
words :
Rida vit nu skulum,
kvad hin rika Skagul,
grsena heima goda
Odni at segja,
at un mun allvaldr koma
a hann sjalfan at sja.
"We two (Gandul and Skagul) shall now, quoth the
mighty Skagul, ride o'er green realms (or worlds) of
the gods in order to say to Odin that now a great king is
coming to see him."
Here we get definite information in regard to which
way the valkyries journey between Asgard and Midgard.
The fields through which the road goes, and which are
beaten by the hoofs of their horses, are green realms of the
gods (worlds, heimar}.
With these green realms Eyvind has not meant the
469
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
blue ether. He distinguishes between blue and green.
The sea he calls blue (bldmar — see Heimskringla).
.What he expressly states, and to which we must confine
ourselves, is that, according to his cosmological concep-
tion and that of his heathen fellow-believers, there were
realms clothed in green and inhabited by divinities on the
route the valkyries had to take when they from a battle-
field in Midgard betook themselves back to Valhal and
Asgard. But as valkyries and the elect ride on Bifrost
up to Valhal, Bifrost, which goes down to Urd's well,
must be the connecting link between the realms decked
with green and Asgard. The gr&ncur heimar through
which the valkyries have to pass are therefore the realms
of the lower world.
Among the realms or "worlds" which constituted the
mythological universe, the realms of bliss in the lower
world were those which might particularly be character-
ised as the green. Their groves and blooming meadows
and fields of waving grain were never touched by decay
or frost, and as such they were cherished by the popular
fancy for centuries after the introduction of Christianity.
The Low German language has also rescued the memory
thereof in the expression groni godes wang (Hel., 94,
24) . That the green realms of the lower world are called
realms of the gods is also proper, for they have contained
and do contain many beings of a higher or lower divine
rank. There dwells the divine mother Nat, worshipped
by the Teutons ; there Thor's mother and her brother and
sister Njord and Fulla are fostered ; there Balder. Nanna,
and Hodr are to dwell until Ragnarok; there Delling,
470
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Billing, Rind, Dag, Mane, and Sol, and all the clan of
artists gathered around Mimer, they who "smithy" liv-
ing beings, vegetation, and ornaments, have their halls;
there was born Odin's son Vale. Of the mythological
divinities, only a small number were fostered in Asgard.
When Gandul and Skagul at the head of sword-fallen
men ride "o'er the green worlds of the gods," this agrees
with the statement in the myth about Hermod's journey to
Hel, that "fylkes" of dead riders gallop over the sub-
terranean gold-bridge, on the other side of which glori-
ous regions are situated, and with the statement in Veg-
tamskvida that Odin, when he had left Nifelhel behind
him, came to a foldvegr, a way over green plains, by
which he reaches the hall that awaits Balder.
In the heroic songs of the Elder Edda, and in other
poems from the centuries immediately succeeding the in-
troduction of Christianity, the memory survives that the
heroes journey to the lower world. Sigurd Fafners-
bane comes to Hel. Of one of Atle's brothers who fell
by Gudrun's sword it is said, i Helju hmi thana hafdi
(Atlam., 51). In the same poem, strophe 54, one of
the Niflungs says of a sword-fallen foe that they had
him lamdan til Heljar.
The mythic tradition is supported by linguistic usage,
which, in such phrases as berja i Hel, drepa i Hel, drepa
til Heljar, fara til Heljar, indicated that those fallen by
the sword also had to descend to the realm of death.
The memory of valkyries, subordinate to the goddess
of fate and death, and belonging with her to the class of
norns, continued to flourish in Christian times both among
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. Among the former
valcyrge, valcyrre (valkyrie) could be used to express
the Latin parca, and in Beowulf occur phrases in which
Hild and Gud (the valkyries Hildr and Gunnr} perform
the tasks of Vyrd. In Atlamal (28), the valkyries are
changed into "dead women," inhabitants of the lower
world, who came to choose the hero and invite him to
their halls. The basis of the transformation is the recol-
lection that the valkyries were not only in Odin's service,
but also in that of the lower world goddess Urd (com-
pare Atlamal, 16, where they are called norns), and that
they as psychopomps conducted the chosen Heroes to Hel
on their way to Asgard.
66.
THE CHOOSING. THE MIDDLE-AGE FABLE ABOUT "RIST-
ING WITH THE SPEAR-POINT/"'
If death on the battle-field, or as the result of wounds
received on the field of battle, had been regarded as an
inevitable condition for the admittance of the dead into
Asgard, and for the honour of sitting at Odin's table,
then the choosing would under all circumstances have
been regarded as a favour from Odin. But this was by
no means the case, nor could it be so when regarded from
a psychological point of view (see above, No. 61). The
poems mentioned above, "Eiriksmal" and "Hakonarmal,"
give us examples of choosing from a standpoint quite
different from that of favour. When one of the ein-
472
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
herjes, Sigmund, learns from Odin that Erik Blood-axe
has fallen and is expected in Valhal, he asks why Odin
robbed Erik of victory and life, although he, Erik, pos-
sessed Odin's friendship. From Odin's answer to the
question we learn that the skald did not wish to make
Sigmund express any surprise that a king, whom Odin
loves above other kings and heroes, has died in a lost
instead of a won battle. What Sigmund emphasises is,
that Odin did not rather take unto himself a less loved
king than the so highly appreciated Erik, and permit the
latter to conquer and live. Odin's answer is that he is
hourly expecting Ragnarok, and that he therefore made
haste to secure as soon as possible so valiant a hero as
Erik among his einherjes. But Odin does not say that
he feared that he might have to relinquish the hero for
ever, in case the latter, not being chosen on this battle-
field, should be snatched away by some other death than
that by the sword.
Hakonarmal gives us an example of a king who is
chosen in a battle in which he is the victor. As con-
queror the wounded Hakon remained on the battlefield;
still he looks upon the choosing as a disfavour. When
he had learned from Gandul's words to Skagul that the
number of the einherjes is to be increased with him, he
blames the valkyries for dispensing to him this fate, and
says he had deserved a better lot from the gods (yarun
tho verdir gagns frd godum). When he enters Valhal
he has a keener reproach on his lips to the welcoming
Odin : illudigr mjok thykkir oss Odinn vera, sjam ver
hans of hugi.
473
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Doubtless it was for our ancestors a glorious prospect
to be permitted to come to Odin after death, and a person
who saw inevitable death before his eyes might comfort
himself with the thought of soon seeing "the benches
of Balder's father decked for the feast" (Ragnar's death-
song). But it is no less certain from all the evidences
we have from the heathen time, that honourable life was
preferred to honourable death, although between the
wars there was a chance of death from sickness. Under
these circumstances, the mythical eschatology could not
have made death from disease an insurmountable obstacle
for warriors and heroes on their way to Valhal. In the
ancient records there is not the faintest allusion to such an
idea. It is too absurd to have existed. It would have
robbed Valhal of many of Midgard's most brilliant he-
roes, and it would have demanded from faithful be-
lievers that they should prefer death even with defeat to
victory and life, since the latter lot was coupled with the
possibility of death from disease. With such a view no
army goes to battle, and no warlike race endowed with
normal instincts has ever entertained it and given it ex-
pression in their doctrine in regard to future life.
The absurdity of the theory is so manifest that the
mythologists who have entertained it have found it nec-
essary to find some way of making it less inadmissible
than it really is. They have suggested that Odin did not
necessarily fail to get those heroes whom sickness and
age threatened with a straw-death, nor did they need to
relinquish the joys of Valhal, for there remained to them
an expedient to which they under such circumstances re-
474
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sorted: they risted (marked, scratched) themselves with
the spear-point (marka sik geirs-oddi).
If there was such a custom, we may conceive it as
springing from a sacredness attending a voluntary death
as a sacrifice — a sacredness which in all ages has been
more or less alluring to religious minds. But all the
descriptions we have from Latin records in regard to
Teutonic customs, all our own ancient records from
heathen times, all Northern and German heroic songs,
are unanimously and stubbornly silent about the existence
of the supposed custom of "risting with the spear-point,"
although, if it ever existed, it would have been just such
a thing as would on the one hand be noticed by strangers,
and on the other hand be remembered, at least for a time,
by the generations converted to Christianity. But the
well-informed persons interviewed by Tacitus, they who
presented so many characteristic traits of the Teutons,
knew nothing of such a practice ; otherwise they certainly
would have mentioned it as something very remarkable
and peculiar to the Teutons. None of the later classical
Latin or middle age Latin records which have made con-
tributions to our knowledge of the Teutons have a single
word to say about it; nor the heroic poems. The Scan-
dinavian records, and the more or less historical sagas,
tell of many heathen kings, chiefs, and warriors who
have died on a bed of straw, but not of a single one who
"risted himself with the spear-point." The fable about
this "risting with the spear-point" .has its origin in Yng-
lingasaga, ch. 10, where Odin, changed to a king in
Svithiod, is said, when death was approaching, to have
475
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
let marka sik geirs-oddi. Out of this statement has been
constructed a custom among kings and heroes of antic-
ipating a straw-death by "risting with the spear-point,"
and this for the purpose of getting admittance to Valhal.
Vigfusson (Dictionary) has already pointed out the fact
that the author of Ynglingasaga had no other authority
for his statement than the passage in Havamal, where
Odin relates that he wounded with a spear, hungering
and thirsting, voluntarily inflicted on himself pain, which
moved Bestla's brother to give him runes and a drink
from the fountain of wisdom. The fable about the spear-
point risting, and its purpose, is therefore quite unlike
the source from which, through ignorance and random
writing, it sprang.
67.
THE PSYCHO-MESSENGERS QE THOSE NOT E ALLEN BY THE
SWORD. POKE'S DAUGHTER (PSEUDO-HEL IN GYL-
EAGINNING) IDENTICAL WITH LEIKIN.
The psychopomps of those fallen by the sword are, as
we have seen, stately discs, sitting high in the saddle,
with helmet, shield, and spear. To those not destined
to fall by the sword Urd sends other maid-servants, who,
like the former, may come on horseback, and who, as it
appears, are of very different appearance, varying in
accordance with the manner of death of those persons
whose departure they attend. She who comes to those
who sink beneath the weight of years has been conceived
as a very benevolent dis, to judge from the solitary pass-
476
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
age where she is characterised, that is in Ynglingatal and
in Ynglingasaga, ch. 49, where it is said of the aged and
just king Halfdan Whiteleg, that he was taken hence by
the woman, who is helpful to those bowed and stooping
(hallvarps hlifinauma}. The burden which Elli (age),
Utgard-Loke's foster-mother (Gylfag., 47), puts on
men, and which gradually gets too heavy for them to
bear, is removed by this kind-hearted dis.
Other psychopomps are of a terrible kind. The most
of them belong to the spirits of disease dwelling in Nifel-
hel (see No. 60). King Vanlande is tortured to death
by a being whose epithet, vitta vattr and trollkund,
shows that she belongs to the same group as Heidr, the
prototype of witches, and who is contrasted with the
valkyrie Hild by the appellation Ijona lids bdga Grim-
hildr (Yngl., ch. 16). The same vitta v&ttr came to
King Adils when his horse fell and he himself struck his
head against a stone (Yngl., ch. 33). Two kings, who
die on a bed of straw, are mentioned in Ynglingasaga's
Thjodolf-strophes (ch. 20 and 52) as visited by a being
called in the one instance Loke's kinswoman (Loka
mar}, and in the other Hvedrung's kinswoman (Hved-
rungs mar}. That this Loke's kinswoman has no au-
thority to determine life and death, but only carries out
the dispensations of the norns, is definitely stated in the
Thjodolf-strophe (ch. 52), and also that her activity,
as one who brings the invitation to the realm of death,
does not imply that the person invited is to be counted
among the damned, although she herself, the kinswoman
of Loke, the daughter of Loke, surely does not belong to
the regions of bliss.
477
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Ok til things
thridja jofri
hvedrungs maer
or heimi baud,
tha er Halfdan,
sa er a Holti bjo
norna doms
um notit hafdi.
As all the dead, whether they are destined for Valhal
or for Hel (in the sense of the subterranean realms of
bliss), or for Nifelhel, must first report themselves in
Hel, their psychopomps, whether they dwell in Valhal,
Hel, or Nifelhel, must do the same. This arrangement
is necessary also from the point of view that the un-
happy who "die from Hel into Nifelhel" (Grimnersmal)
must have attendants who conduct them from the realms
of bliss to the Na-gates, and thence to the realms of tor-
ture. Those dead from disease, who have the subter-
ranean kinswoman of Loke as a guide, may be destined
for the realms of bliss — then she delivers them there; or
be destined for Nifelhel — then they die under her care
and are brought by her through the Na-gates to the
worlds of torture in Nifelhel.
Far down in Christian times the participle leikinn was
used in a manner which points to something mythical as
the original reason for its application. In Biskupas.
(i. 464) it is said of a man that he was leikinn by some
magic being (flagd). Of another person who sought
solitude and talked with himself, it is said in Eyrbyggja
(270) that he was believed to be leikinn. Ynglingatal
gives us the mythical explanation of this word.
478
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
In its strophe about King Dyggve, who died from
disease, this poem says (Yngling., ch. 20) that, as the
lower world dis had chosen him, Loke's kinswoman came
and made him leikinn (Allvald Yngva thjodar Loka mar
um leikinn hefir). The person who became leikinn is
accordingly visited by Loke's kinswoman, or, if others
have had the same task to perform, by some being who
resembled her, and who brought psychical or physical
disease.
In our mythical records there is mention made of a
giantess whose very name, Leikin, Leikn, is immediately
connected with that activity which Loke's kinswoman —
and she too is a giantess — exercises when she makes a
oerson leikinn. Of this personal Leikin we get the fol-
lowing information in our old records :
1. She is, as stated, of giant race (Younger Edda,
i. 552).
2. She has once fared badly at Thor's hands. He
broke her leg (Leggi brauzt thu Leiknar — Skaldsk., ch.
4, after a song by Vetrlidi).
3. She is kveldrida. The original and mythological
meaning of kveldrida is a horsewoman of torture or death
(from kvelja, to torture, to kill). The meaning, a horse-
woman of the night, is a misunderstanding. Compare
Vigfusson's Diet., sub voce "Kveld."
4. The horse which this woman of torture and death
rides is black, untamed, difficult to manage (styggr), and
ugly-grown (Ijotvaxinn). It drinks human blood, and
is accompanied by other horses belonging to Leikin, black
and bloodthirsty like it. (All this is stated by Hallfred
479
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Vandradaskald. ) * Perhaps these loose horses are in-
tended for those persons whom the horsewomen of tor-
ture causes to die from disease, and whom she is to con-
duct to the lower world.
Popular traditions have preserved for our times the
remembrance of the "ugly-grown" horse, that is, of a
three-legged horse, which on its appearance brings sick-
ness, epidemics, and plagues. The Danish popular be-
lief (Thiele i. 137, 138) knows this monster and the
word Hel-horse has been preserved in the vocabulary of
the Danish language. The diseases brought by the Hel-
horse are extremely dangerous, but not always fatal.
When they are not fatal the convalescent is regarded as
having ransomed his life with that tribute of loss of
strength and of torture which the disease caused him, and
in a symbolic sense he has then "given death a bushel of
oats" (that is, to its horse). According to popular belief
in Slesvik (Arnkiel, i. 55; cp. J. Grimm, Deutsche Myth,
804), Hel rides in the time of a plague on a three-legged
horse and kills people. Thus the ugly-grown horse is
not forgotten in traditions from the heathen time.
Voluspa inform us that in the primal age of man, the
sorceress Heid went from house to house and was a wel-
come guest with evil women, since she seid Leikin (sida
means to practise sorcery). Now, as Leikin is the "horse-
woman of torture and death," and rides the Hel-horse,
then the expression sida Leikin can mean nothing else
*Tidhoggvlt let tiggi Vinhrodigr gaf vida
Tryggvar sonr fyrir styggvan visi margra Frisa
Leiknar hest d leiti blokku ftrflnf at derkka
Ijotvaxinn hrce Saxa. blod kvellridu stodi.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
than by sorcery to send Leikin, the messenger of disease
and death, to those persons who are the victims of the
evil wishes of "evil women ;" or, more abstractly, to bring
by sorcery dangerous diseases to men.*
From all this follows that Leikin is either a side-figure
to the daughter of Loke, and like her in all respects, or
she and the Loke-daughter are one and the same per-
son. To determine the question whether they are iden-
tical, we must observe (1) the definitely representative
manner in which Voluspa, by the use of the name Leikin,
makes the possessor of this name a mythic person, who
visits men with diseases and death; (2) the manner in
which Ynglingatal characterises the activity of Loke's
daughter with a person doomed to die from disease; she
makes him leikinn, an expression which, without doubt, is
in its sense connected with the feminine name Leikn, and
which was preserved in the vernacular far down in Chris-
tian times, and there designated a supernatural visitation
bringing the symptoms of mental or physical illness; (3)
*V61uspa 23, Cod. Reg., says of Heid :
seid hon Tcuni,
seid hon Leikin.
The letter u is in this manuscript used for both u and y (compare
Bugge, Ssemund Edd., Preface x., xi.), and hence kuni may be read both
kuni and kyni. The latter reading makes logical sense. Kyni is dative of
kyn, a neuter noun, meaning something sorcerous, supernatural, a mon-
ster. Kynjamein and kynjasott mean diseases brought on by sorcery. Seid
in both the above lines is past tense of the verb sida, and not in either one
of them the noun seidr.
There was a sacred sorcery and an unholy one, according to the pur-
pose for which it was practised, and according to the attending ceremonies.
The object of the holy sorcery was to bring about something good either
for the sorcerer or for others, or to find out the will of the gods and future
things. The sorcery practised by Heidr is the unholy one, hated by the
gods, and again and again forbidden in the laws, and this kind of sorcery
is designated in Voluspa by the term sida kyni. Of a thing practised with
improper means it is said that it is not kynja-lauss, kyn-free.
The reading in Cod. Hauk., seid hon hvars hon kunni, seid hon
hugleikin, evidently has some "emendator" to thank for its existence who
did not understand the passage and wished to substitute something easily
understood for the obscure lines he thought he had found.
48l
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Christian popular tradition in which the deformed
and disease-bringing horse, which Leikin rides in the
myth, is represented as the steed of "death" or "Hel;"
(4) that change of meaning by which the name Hel,
which in the mythical poems of the Elder Edda desig-
nates the whole heathen realm of death, and especially
its regions of bliss, or their queen, got to mean the abode
of torture and misery and its ruler — a transmutation by
which the name Hel, as in Gylfaginning and in the Slesvik
traditions, was transferred from Urd to Loke's daugh-
ter.
Finally, it should be observed that it is told of Leikin,
as of Loke's daughter, that she once fared badly at the
hands of the gods, who did not, however, take her life.
Loke's daughter is not slain, but is cast into Nifelhel
(Gylfaginning, ch. 34). From that time she is gnupleit
— that is to say, she has a stooping form, as if her bones
had been broken and were unable to keep her in an up-
right position. Leikin is not slain, but gets her legs
broken.
All that we learn of Leikin thus points to the Loke-
maid, the Hel, not of the myth, but of Christian tradi-
tion.
68.
THE WAY TO HADES COMMON TO THE DEAD.
It has already been demonstrated that all the dead must
go to Hel — not only they whose destination is the realm
of bliss, but also those who are to dwell in Asgard or in
482
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the regions of torture in Nifelheim. Thus the dead
tread at the outset the same road. One and the same
route is prescribed to them all, and the same Helgate
daily opens for hosts of souls destined for different lots.
Women and children, men and the aged, they who have
practised the arts of peace and they who have stained
the weapons with blood, those who have lived in accord-
ance with the sacred commandments of the norns and
gods and they who have broken them — all have to jour-
ney the same way as Balder went before them, down to
the fields of the fountains of the world. They come on
foot and on horseback — nay, even in chariots, if we may
believe Helreid Brynhildar, a very unreliable source —
guided by various psychopomps : the beautifully equipped
valkyries, the blue-white daughter of L,oke, the sombre
spirits of disease, and the gentle maid-servant of old age.
Possibly the souls of children had their special psycho-
pomps. Traditions of mythic origin seem to suggest this ;
but the fragments of the myths themselves preserved to
our time give us no information on this subject.
The Hel-gate here in question was situated below the
eastern horizon of the earth. When Thor threatens to
kill Loke he says (Lokas., 59) that he will send him a
austruega. When the author of the Sol-song sees the
sunset for the last time, he hears in the opposite direc-
tion— that is, in the east — the Hel-gate grating dismally
on its hinges (str. 39). The gate has a watchman and
a key. The key is called glllmgr, gyllingr (Younger
Edda, ii. 494) ; and hence a skald who celebrates his an-
cestors in his songs, and thus recalls to those living the
483
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
shades of those in Hades, may say that he brings to the
light of day the tribute paid to Gilling (yppa gillings
gj'oldum. See Eyvind's strophe, Younger Edda, i. 248.
The paraphrase has hitherto been misunderstood, on ac-
count of the pseudo-myth Bragarozdur about the mead.)
From the gate the highway of the dead went below the
earth in a westerly direction through deep and dark dales
(Gylfag., ch. 52), and it required several days — for Her-
mod nine days and nights — before they came to light re-
gions and to the golden bridge across the river Gjoll, flow-
ing from north to south (see No. 59). On the other
side of the river the roads forked. One road went di-
rectly north. This led to Balder's abode (Gylfag., ch.
52) ; in other words, to Mimer's realm, to Mimer's grove,
and to the sacred citadel of the asmegir, where death and
decay cannot enter (see No. 53). This northern road
was not, therefore, the road common to all the dead. An-
other road went to the south. As Urd's realm is situated
south of Mimer's (see Nos. 59, 63), this second road
must have led to Urd's fountain and to the thingstead of
the gods there. From the Sun-song we learn that the
departed had to continue their journey by that road. The
deceased skald of the Sun-song came to the norns, that
is to say, to Urd and her sisters, after he had left this
road behind him, and he sat for nine days and nights
a norna stoli before he was permitted to continue his jour-
ney (str. 51). Here, then, is the end of the road com-
mon to all, and right here, at Urd's fountain and at the
thingstead of the gods something must happen, on which
account the dead are divided into different groups, some
484
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
destined for Asgard, others for the subterranean regions
of bliss, and a third lot for Nifelhel's regions of torture.
We shall now see whether the mythic fragments pre-
served to our time contain any suggestions as to what
occurs in this connection. It must be admitted that this
dividing must take place somewhere in the lower world,
that it was done on the basis of the laws which in mytho-
logical ethics distinguish between right and wrong, in-
nocence and guilt, that which is pardonable and that
which is unpardonable, and that the happiness and unhap-
piness of the dead is determined by this division
69.
THE TWO THINGSTEADS OF THE ASAS. THE EXTENT OF
THE AUTHORITY OP THE ASAS AND OF THE DIS OF
FATE. THE DOOM OF THE DEAD.
The Asas have two thingsteads : the one in Asgard, the
other in the lower world.
In the former a council is held and resolutions passed
in such matters as pertain more particularly to the clan
of the Asas and to their relation to other divine clans and
other powers. When Balder is visited by ugly dreams,
Val father assembles the gods to hold counsel, and all the
Asas assemble a thingi, and all the asynjes a mall (Veg-
tamskv., 1; Balder's Dr., 4). In assemblies here the
gods resolved to exact an oath from all things for Bal-
der's safety, and to send a messenger to the lower world
to get knowledge partly about Balder, partly about fu-
ture events. On this thingstead efforts are made of
485
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
reconciliation between the Asas and the Vans, after Gul-
veig had been slain in Odin's hall (Voluspa, 23, 24).
Hither (a thing goda) comes Thor with the kettle cap-
tured from Hymer, and intended for the feasts of the
gods (Hymerskv., 39) ; and here the Asas hold their last
deliberations, when Ragnarok is at hand (Voluspa, 49 :
&sir 'ro a ihingi). No matters are mentioned as dis-
cussed in this thingstead in which any person is inter-
ested who does not dwell in Asgard, or which are not of
such a nature that they have reference to how the gods
themselves are to act under particular circumstances.
That the thingstead where such questions are discussed
must be situated in Asgard itself is a matter of conven-
ience, and is suggested by the very nature of the case.
It follows that the gods assemble iruthe Asgard thing-
stead more for the purpose of discussing their own in-
terests than for that of judging in the affairs of others.
They also gather there to amuse themselves and to exer-
cise themselves in arms (Gylfaginning, 50).
Of the other thingstead of the Asas, of the one in the
lower world, it is on the other hand expressly stated that
they go thither to sit in judgment, to act as judges ; and
there is no reason for taking this word dcema, when as
here it means activity at a thingstead, in any other than
its judicial and common sense.
What matters are settled there ? We might take this to
be the proper place for exercising Odin's privilege of
choosing heroes to be slain by the sword, since this right is
co-ordinate with that of the norns to determine life and
dispense fate, whence it might seem that the domain of the
486
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
authority of the gods and that of the norns here ap-
proached each other sufficiently to require deliberations
and decisions in common. Still it is not on the thing-
stead at Urd's fountain that Odin elects persons for death
by the sword. It is expressly stated that it is in his own
home in Valhal that Odin exercises his right of electing
(Grimnersmal, 8), and this right he holds so independ-
ently and so absolutely that he does not need to ask for
the opinion of the norns. On the other hand, the gods
have no authority to determine the life and death of the
other mortals. This belongs exclusively to the norns.
The norns elect for every other death but that by weap-
ons, and their decision in this domain is never called a
decision by the gods, but norna domr, norna kiridr, freig-
dar ord, Dauda ord.
If Asas and norns did have a common voice in deciding
certain questions which could be settled in Asgard, then
it would not be in accordance with the high rank given
to the Asas in mythology to have them go to the norns
for the decision of such questions. On the contrary,
the norns would have to come to them. Urd and her
sisters are beings of high rank, but nevertheless they are
of giant descent, like Mimer. The power they have is
immense; and on a closer investigation we find how the
mythology in more than one way has sought to maintain
in the fancy of its believers the independence (at least ap-
parent and well defined, within certain limits) of the
gods — an independence united with the high rank which
they have. It may have been for this very reason that
the youngest of the discs of fate, Skuld, was selected as
487
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
a valkyrie, and as a maid-servant both of Odin and of
her sister Urd.
The questions in which the Asas are judges near Urd's
fountain must be such as cannot be settled in Asgard, as
the lower world is their proper forum, where both the
parties concerned and the witnesses are to be found.
The questions are of great importance. This is evident
already from the fact that the journey to the thingstead
is a troublesome one for the gods, at least for Thor, who,
to get thither, must wade across four rivers. More-
over, the questions are of such a character that they occur
every day ( Grimnersmal, 29, 31).
At this point of the investigation the results hitherto
gained from the various premises unite themselves in the
following manner :
The Asas daily go to the thingstead near Urd's foun-
tain. At the thingstead near Urd's fountain there daily
arrive hosts of the dead.
The task of the Asas near Urd's fountain is to judge
in questions of which the lower world is the proper fo-
rum. When the dead arrive at Urd's fountain their final
doom is not yet sealed. They have not yet been sepa-
rated into the groups which are to be divided between
Asgard, Hel, and Nifelhel.
The question now is, Can we conceive that the daily
journey of the Asas to Urd's fountain and the daily ar-
rival there of the dead have no connection with each
other? — That the judgments daily pronounced by the
Asas at this thingstead, and that the daily event in ac-
cordance with which the dead at this thingstead are di-
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
vided between the realms of bliss and those of torture
have nothing in common ?
That these mythological facts should have no connec-
tion with each other is hard to conceive for anyone who,
in doubtful questions, clings to that which is probable
rather than to the opposite. The probability becomes a
certainty by the following circumstances :
Of the kings Vanlande and Half dan, Ynglingatal says
that after death they met Odin. According to the com-
mon view presented in our mythological text-books, this
should not have happened to either of them, since both of
them died from disease. One of them was visited and
fetched by that choking spirit of disease called vitta vattr,
and in this way he was permitted "to meet Odin" (kom
a vit Vilja brodur} . The other was visited by Hvedrungs
m<zr, the daughter of Loke, who "called him from this
world to Odin's Thing."
Ok til things
thridja jofri
Hvedrungs maer
or heimi baud.
Thing-bod means a legal summons to appear at a Thing,
at the seat of judgment. Bjoda til things is to perform
this legal summons. Here it is Hvedrung's kinswoman
who comes with sickness and death and thing-bod to King
Half dan, and summons him to appear before the judg-
ment-seat of Odin. As, according to mythology, all the
dead, and as, according to the mythological text-books,
at least all those who have died from disease must go to
Hel, then certainly King Halfdan, who died from dis-
489
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ease, must descend to the lower world; and as there is a
Thing at which Odin and the Asas daily sit in judgment,
it must have been this to which Halfdan was summoned.
Otherwise we would be obliged to assume that Hved-
rung's kinswoman, Loke's daughter, is a messenger, not
from the lower world and Urd, but from Asgard, al-
though the strophe further on expressly states that she
comes to Halfdan on account of "the doom of the norns ;"
and furthermore we would be obliged to assume that the
king, who had died from sickness, after arriving in the
lower world, did not present himself at Odin's court
there, but continued his journey to Asgard, to appear at
some of the accidental deliberations which are held at
the thingstead there. The passage proves that at least
those who have died from sickness have to appear at the
court which is held by Odin in the lower world.
70.
THE DOOM OF THE DEAD (continued). SPEECH-RUNES
ORDS TIRR
In Sigrdrifumal (str. 12) we read:
Malrunar skaltu kunna,
vilt-ar magni ther
heiptom gjaldi harm;
thaer um vindr,
thaer um vefr,
thser um setr allar saman
a thvi thingi,
er thjothir scolo
i fulla doma fara.
490
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"Speech-runes you must know, if you do not wish that
the strong one with consuming woe shall requite you for
the injury you have caused. All those runes you must
wind, weave, and place together in that Thing where the
host of people go into the full judgments."
In order to make the significance of this passage clear,
it is necessary to explain the meaning of speech-runes or
mal-runes.
Several kinds of runes are mentioned in Sigrdrifumal,
all of a magic and wonderful kind. Among them are
mal-runes (speech-runes). They have their name from
the fact that they are able to restore to a tongue mute or
silenced in death the power to nuzla (speak). Odin em-
ploys mal-runes when he rists i runom, so that a corpse
from the gallows comes and mcelir with him (Havam.,
157). According to Saxo (i. 38), Hadding places a
piece of wood risted with runes under the tongue of a
dead man. The latter then recovers consciousness and
the power of speech, and sings a terrible song. This is
a reference to mal-runes. In Gudrunarkvida (i.) it is
mentioned how Gudrun, mute and almost lifeless (hon
gordlz at deyja), sat near Sigurd's dead body. One
of the kinswomen present lifts the napkin off from Si-
gurd's head. By the sight of the features of the loved
one Gudrun awakens again to life, bursts into tears, and
is able to speak. The evil Brynhild then curses the being
(vettr} which "gave mal-runes to Gudrun," that is to
say, freed her tongue, until then sealed as in death.
Those who are able to apply these mighty runes are
very few. Odin boasts that he knows them. Sigrdrifva,
491
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
who also is skilled in them, is a dis, not a daughter of
man. The runes which Hadding applied were risted by
Hardgrep, a giantess who protected him. But within
the court here in question men come in great numbers
(thjodir), and among them there must be but a small num-
ber who have penetrated so deeply into the secret knowl-
edge of runes. For those who have done so it is of im-
portance and advantage. For by them they are able to
defend themselves against complaints, the purpose of
which is "to requite with consuming woe the harm they
have done." In the court they are able to mala (speak)
in their own defence.
Thus it follows that those hosts of people who enter
this thingstead stand there with speechless tongues. They
are and remain mute before their judges unless they
know the mal-runes which are able to loosen the fetters
of their tongues. Of the dead man's tongue it is said
in Solarljod (44) that it is tit tres metin ok kolnat alt fyr
utan.
The sorrow or harm one has caused is requited in this
Thing by heiptir, unless the accused is able — thanks to
the mal-runes — to speak and give reasons in his defence.
In Havamal (151) the word heiptir has the meaning of
something supernatural and magical. It has a similar
meaning here, as Vigfusson has already pointed out.
The magical mal-runes, wound, woven, and placed to-
gether, form as it were a garb of protection around the
defendant against the magic heiptir. In the Havamal
strophe mentioned the skald makes Odin paraphrase, or
at least partly explain, the word heiptir with mein, which
492
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"eat" their victims. It is in the nature of the myth to
regard such forces as personal beings. We have already
seen the spirits of disease appear in this manner (see
No. 60') . The heiptir were also personified. They were
the Krinnyes of the Teutonic mythology, armed with
scourges of thorns (see below).
He who at the Thing particularly dispenses the law of
requital is called magni. The word has a double mean-
ing, which appears in the verb magna, which means both
to make strong and to operate with supernatural means.
From all this it must be sufficiently plain that the Thing
here referred to is not the Althing in Iceland or the Gula-
thing in Norway, or any other Thing held on the surface
of the earth. The thingstead here discussed must be sit-
uated in one of the mythical realms, between which the
earth was established. And it must be superhuman be-
ings of higher or lower rank who there occupy the judg-
ment-seats and requite the sins of men with heiptir.
But in Asgard men do not enter with their tongues sealed
in death. For the einherjes who are invited to the joys
of Valhal there are no heiptir prepared. Inasmuch as the
mythology gives us information about only two thing-
steads where superhuman beings deliberate and judge —
namely, the Thing in Asgard and the Thing near Urd's
fountain — and inasmuch as it is, in fact, only in the latter
that the gods act as judges, we are driven by all the evi-
dences to the conclusion that Sigrdrifumal has described
to us that very thingstead at which Hvedrung's kins-
woman summoned King Halfdan to appear after death.
Sigrdrifumal, using the expression a thvi, sharply dis-
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tinguished this thingstead or court from all others. The
poem declares that it means that Thing where hosts of
people go into full judgments. "Full" are those judg-
ments against which no formal or real protests can be
made — decisions which are irrevocably valid. The only
kind of judgments of which the mythology speaks in this
manner, that is, characterises as judgments that "never
die," are those "over each one dead."
This brings us to the well-known and frequently-
quoted strophes in Havamal:
Str. 76. Deyr fae,
deyja fraendr,
deyr sialfr it sama;
enn orztirr
deyr aldregi
hveim er ser godan getr.
Str. 77. Deyr fae,
deyja fraendr,
deyr sialfr it sama;
ec veit einn
at aldri deyr:
domr urn daudan hvern.
(76) "Your cattle shall die; your kindred shall die;
you yourself shall die; but the fair fame of him who has
earned it never dies."
(77) "Your cattle shall die; your kindred shall die;
you yourself shall die; one thing I know which never
dies : the judgment on each one dead."
Hitherto these passages have been interpreted as if
Odin or Havamal's skald meant to say — What you have
of earthly possessions is perishable; your kindred and
494
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
yourself shall die. But I know one thing that never
dies : the reputation you acquired among men, the posthu-
mous fame pronounced on your character and on your
deeds : that reputation is immortal, that fame is imperish-
able.
But can this have been the meaning intended to be con-
veyed by the skald? And could these strophes, which,
as it seems, were widely known in the heathendom of the
North, have been thus understood by their hearers and
readers ? Did not Havamal's author, and the many who
listened to and treasured in their memories these words
of his, know as well as all other persons who have some
age and experience, that in the great majority of cases
the fame acquired by a person scarcely survives a gen-
eration, and passes away together with the very memory
of the deceased?
Could it have escaped the attention of the Havamal
skald and his hearers that the number of mortals is so large
and increases so immensely with the lapse of centuries that
the capacity of the survivors to remember them is utterly
insufficient ?
Was it not a well-established fact, especially among the
Germans, before they got a written literature, that the
skaldic art waged, so to speak, a desperate conflict with
the power of oblivion, in order to rescue at least the names
of the most distinguished heroes and kings, but that
nevertheless thousands of chiefs and warriors were after
the lapse o>f a few generations entirely forgotten?
Did not Havamal's author know that millions of men
have, in the course of thousands of years, left this world
495
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
without leaving so deep footprints in the sands of time
that they could last even through one generation ?
Every person of some age and experience has known
this, and Havamal's author too. The lofty strains above
quoted do not seem to be written by a person wholly
destitute of worldly experience.
The assumption that Havamal with that judgment on
each one dead, which is said to be imperishable, had refer-
ence to the opinion of the survivors in regard to the
deceased attains its climax of absurdity when we consider
that the poem expressly states that it means the judgment
on every dead person— "domr um daudan hvern" In the
cottage lying far, far in the deep forest dies a child, hardly
known by others than by its parents, who, too, are soon
to be harvested by death. But the judgment of the sur-
vivors in regard to this child's character and deeds is to
be imperishable, and the good fame it acquired during its
brief life is to live for ever on the lips of posterity!
Perhaps it is the sense of the absurdity to which the cur-
rent assumption leads on this point that has induced some
of the translators to conceal the word hvern (every) and
led them to translate the words domr um dcmdan hvern in
an arbitrary manner with "judgment on the dead man."
If we now add that the judgment of posterity on one
deceased, particularly if he was a person of great
influence, very seldom is so unanimous, reliable, well-
considered, and free from prejudice that in these respects
it ought to be entitled to permanent validity, then we find
that the words of the Havamal strophes attributed to
Odin's lips, when interpreted as hitherto, are not words of
496
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
wisdom, but the most stupid twaddle ever heard declaimed
in a solemn manner.
There are two reasons for the misunderstanding — the
one is formal, and is found in the word ords-tirr (str. 76) ;
the other reason is that Gylfaginning, which too long has
had the reputation of being a reliable and exhaustive
codification of the scattered statements of the mythic
sources, has nothing to say about a court for the dead.
It knows that, according to the doctrine of the heathen
fathers, good people come to regions of bliss, the wicked
to Nifelhel ; but who he or they were who determined how
far a dead person was worthy of the one fate or the other,
on this point Gylfaginning has not a word to say. From
the silence of this authority, the conclusion has been
drawn that a court summoning the dead within its forum
was not to be found in Teutonic mythology, although
other Aryan and non-Aryan mythologies have presented
such a judgment-seat, and that the Teutonic fancy, though
always much occupied with the affairs of the lower world
and with the conditions of the dead in the various realms
of death, never felt the necessity of conceiving for itself
clear and concrete ideas of how and through whom the
deceased were determined for bliss or misery. The
ecclesiastical conception, which postpones the judgment
to the last day of time and permits the souls of the dead
to be transferred, without any special act of judgment, to
heaven, to purgatory, or to hell, has to some extent contri-
buted to making us familiar with this idea which was
foreign to the heathens. From this it followed that
scholars have been blind to the passages in our mythical
497
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
records which speak of a court in the lower world, and
they have either read them without sufficient attention (as,
for instance, the above-quoted statements of Ynglingatal,
which it is impossible to harmonise with the current con-
ception), or interpreted them in an utterly absurd manner
(which is the case with Sigrdrifumal, str. 12), or they
have interpolated assumptions, which, on a closer inspec-
tion, are reduced to nonsense (as is the case with the
Havamal strophes), or given them a possible, but improb-
able, interpretation (thus Sonatorrek, 19). The com-
pound ordstirr is composed of ord, gen, ords, and tirr.
The composition is of so loose a character that the two
parts are not blended into a new word. The sign of the
gen. -s is retained, and shows that ordstirr, like lofstirr, is
not in its sense and in its origin a compound, but is writ-
ten as one word, probably on account of the laws of accen-
tuation. The more original meaning of ordstirr is, there-
fore, to be found in the sense of ords tirr.
Tirr means reputation in a good sense, but still not in
a sense so decidedly good but that a qualifying word,
which makes the good meaning absolute, is sometimes
added. Thus in lofs-tirr, laudatory reputation ; godr tirr,
good reputation. In the Havamal strophe 76, above-quo-
ted, the possibility of an ords tirr which is not good is
presupposed. See the last line of the strophe.
So far as the meaning of or>d is concerned, we must
leave its relatively more modern and grammatical sense
(word) entirely out of the question. Its older significa-
tion is an utterance (one which may consist of many
"words" in a grammatical sense), a command, a result, a
498
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
judgment; and these older significations have long had a
conscious existence in the language. Compare Forn-
manna, ii. 237 : "The first word : All shall be Christians ;
the second word: All heathen temples and idols shall be
unholy," &c.
In Voluspa (str. 27) ord is employed in the sense of an
established law or judgment among the divine powers,
a gengoz eidar, ord oc sari, where the treaties between
the Asas and gods, solemnised by oaths, were broken.
When ord occurs in purely mythical sources, it is most
frequently connected with judgments pronounced in the
lower world, and sent from Urd's fountain to their desti-
nation. Urdar ord is Urd's judgment, which must come
to pass (Fjolsvinnsm., str. 48), no matter whether it con-
cerns life or death. Feigdar ord, a judgment determining
death, comes to Fjolner, and is. fulfilled "where Frode
dwelt" (Yng.-tal, Heimskr., 14). Dauda ord, the judg-
ment of death, awaited Dag the Wise, when he came to
Vorva (Yng.-tal, Heimskr., 21). To a subterranean
judgment refers also the expression bana-ord, which fre-
quently ocurs.
Vigfusson (Diet., 466) points out the possibility of an
etymological connection between ord and Urdr. He com-
pares word (ord} and wurdr (urdr), word and weird
(fate, goddess of fate) . Doubtless there was, in the most
ancient time, a mythical idea-association between them.
These circumstances are to be remembered in connection
with the interpretation of ordstirr, ords-tirr in Havamal,
76. The real meaning of the phrase to be; reputation
based on a decision, on an utterance of authority.
499
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
When ordstirr had blended into a compound word,
there arose by the side of its literal meaning another, in
which the accent fell so heavily on tirr that ord is super-
fluous and gives no additional meaning of a judgment on
which this tirr is based. Already in Hofudlausn (str. 26)
ordstirr is used as a compound, meaning simply honour-
able reputation, honour. There is mention of a victory
which Erik Blood-axe won, and it is said that he thereby
gained ordstirr (renown).
In interpreting Havamal (76) it would therefore seem
that we must choose between the proper and figurative
sense of ordstirr. The age of the Havamal strophe is not
known. If it was from it Eyvind Skaldaspiller drew his
deyr fe, deyja frandr, which he incorporated in his drapa
on Hakon the Good, who died in 960, then the Havamal
strophe could not be composed later than the middle of the
tenth century. Hofudlausn was composed by Egil Skal-
lagrimson in the year 936 or thereabout. From a chrono-
logical point of view there is therefore nothing to hinder
our aplying the less strict sense, "honourable reputation,
honour," to the passage in question.
But there are other hindrances. If the Havamal skald
with ords-tirr meant "honourable reputation, honour," he
could, not, as he has done, have added the condition which
he makes in the last line of the strophe : hveim er ser godan
getr, for the idea "good" would then already be contained
in ordstirr. If in spite of this we would take the less strict
sense, we must subtract from ordstirr the meaning of
honourable reputation, honour, and conceive the expres-
sion to mean simply reputation in general, a meaning
which the word never had.
500
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
We are therefore forced to the conclusion that the
meaning of court-decision, judgment, which ord has not
only in Ynglingatal and Fjolsvinnsmal, but also in lin-
guistic usage, was clear to the author of the Havamal
strophe, and that he applied ords tirr in its original sense
and was speaking of imperishable judgments.
It should also have been regarded as a matter of course
that the judgment which, according to the Havamal
strophe (77), is passed on everyone dead, and which itself
never dies, must have been prepared by a court whose
decision could not be questioned or set aside, and that the
judgment must have been one whose influence is eternal,
for the infinity of the judgment itself can only depend on
the infinity of its operation. .That the more or less vague
opinions sooner or later committed to oblivion in regard
to a deceased person should be supposed to contain such
a judgment, and to have been meant by the immortal doom
over the dead, I venture to include among the most extra-
ordinary interpretations ever produced.
Both the strophes are, as is evident from the first glance,
most intimately connected with each other. Both begin :
deyr fee, deyja frandr. Ord in the one strophe corre-
sponds to domr in the other. The latter strophe declares
that the judgment on every dead person is imperishable,
and thus completes the more limited statement of the
foregoing strophe, that the judgment which gives a good
renown is everlasting. The former strophe speaks of only
one category of men who have been subjected to an
ever-valid judgment, namely of that category to whose
honour the eternal judgment is pronounced. The second
SGI
strophe speaks of both the categories, and assures us that
the judgment on the one as on the other category is
everlasting.
The strophes are by the skald attributed to Odin's lips.
Odin pronounces judgment every day near Urd's fountain
at the court to which King Halfdan was summoned, and
where hosts of people with fettered tongues await their
final destiny (see above.) The assurances in regard to
the validity of the judgment on everyone dead are thus
given by a being who really may be said to know what he
talks about (ec veit, &c.), namely, by the judge himself.
In the poem Sonatorrek the old Egil Skallagrimson
laments the loss of sons and kindred, and his thoughts are
occupied with the fate of his children after death. When
he speaks of his son Gunnar, who in his tender years was
snatched away by a sickness, he says (str. 19) :
Son minn
sottar brimi
heiptuligr
or heimi nam,
thann ec veit
at varnadi
vamma varr
vid narrueli.
"A fatal fire of disease (fever?) snatched from this
world a son of mine, of whom I know that he, careful as
he was in regard to sinful deeds, took care of himself for
namali"
To understand this strophe correctly, we must know
that the skald in the preceding 17th, as in the succeeding
20th, strophe, speaks of Gunnar's fate in the lower world.
502
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The word namceli occurs nowhere else, and its meaning1
is not known. It is of importance to our subject to find
it out.
In those compounds of which the first part is nd-, nd
may be the adverbial prefix, which means near by, by the
side of, or it may be the substantive nar, which means a
corpse, dead body, and in a mythical sense one damned,
one who dies for the second time and comes to Nifelhel
(see No. 60). The question is now, to begin with,
whether it is the adverbial prefix or the substantive nd-
which we have in ndm&li.
Compounds which have the adverbial nd as the first
part of the word are very common. In all of them the
prefix nd- implies nearness in space or in kinship, or it has
the signification of some thing correct or exact.
(1) In regard to space: ndbud, ndbui, ndbyli, ndgranna,
ndgranni, ndgrennd, ndgrenni, ndkommin, ndkvcema, nd-
kvcemd, ndkvamr, ndleid, ndlczgd, nalcegjast, ndlcegr,
ndmunda, ndsessi, ndseta, ndsettr, nds&ti, navera, ndveru-
kona, ndverandi, ndvist, ndvistarkona, ndvistarmadr, nd-
vistarvitni.
(2) In regard to friendship: ndborinn, ndfrcendi, nd-
fra&ndkona, ndmagr, ndskyldr, ndstadr, ndongr.
(3) In regard to correctness, exactness: ndkvami,
nakvamliga, ndkvcemr.
The idea of correctness comes from the combination of
nd- and kvcemi, kvcemliga, kvcemr. The exact meaning
is — that which comes near to, and which in that sense is
precise, exact, to the point.
These three cases exhaust the meanings of the adver-
503
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
bial prefix nd-. I should consider it perilous, and as the
abandoning of solid ground under the feet, if we, without
evidence from the language tried, as has been done, to
give it another hitherto unknown signification.
But none of these meanings can be applied to ndmceli.
In analogy with the words under (1) it can indeed mean
"An oration held near by ;" but this signification produces
no sense in the above passage, the only place where it is
found.
In another group of words the prefix nd- is the noun
ndr. Here belong ndbjargir, ndbleikr, ndgrindr, ndgoll,
ndreid, ndstrandir, and other words.
Mali means a declamation, an oration, an utterance, a
reading, or the proclamation of a law. Mala, malandi,
formalandi, formali, nymczli, are used in legal language.
Formalandi is a defendant in court. Form&li is his
speech or plea. Nymceli is a law read or published for the
first time.
Mali can take either a substantive or adjective as pre-
fix. Examples : Gudmceli, fullmali. Nd from ndr can be
used as a prefix both to a noun and to an adjective.
Examples : ndgrindr, ndbleikr.
Ndmali should acordingly be an oration, a declaration,
a proclamation, in regard to ndr. From the context we
find that ndmcdi is something dangerous, something to
look out for. Gunnar is dead and is gone to the lower
world, which contains not only happiness but also terrors ;
but his aged father, who in another strophe of the poem
gives to understand that he had adhered faithfully to the
religious doctrines of his fathers, is convinced that his son
504
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
has avoided the dangers implied in ndmceli, as he had
no sinful deed to blame himself for. In the following
strophe (20) he expressed his confidence that the deceased
had been adopted by Gauta spjalli, a friend of Odin in the
lower world, and had landed in the realm of happiness.
(In regard to Gauta spjalli see further on. The expres-
sion is applicable both to Mimer and Honer).
Ndmceli must, therefore, mean a declaration (1) that is
dangerous; (2) which does not affect a person who has
lived a blameless life; (3) which refers to the dead and
affects those who have not been vamma varir, on the look-
out against blameworthy and criminal deeds.
The passage furnishes additional evidence that the dead
in the lower world make their appearance in order to be
judged, and it enriches our knowledge of the mythological
eschatology with a technical term (ndmceli) for that judg-
ment which sends sinners to travel through the Na-gates
to Nifelhel. The opposite of namali is ords tirr, that
judgment which gives the dead fair renown, and both
kinds of judgments are embraced in the'phrase domr mm
daudan. Ndmceli is a proclamation for ndir, just as
ndgrindr are gates and ndstrandir are strands for ndir.
71.
THE DOOM OF THE; DEAD (continued). THE LOOKS OP
THE THINGSTEAD. THE DUTY OF TAKING CARE OE
THE ASHES OE THE DEAD. THE HAMINGJE AT THE
JUDGMENT. SINS OF WEAKNESS. SINS UNTO DEATH.
Those hosts which are conducted by their psychopomps
505
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to the Thing near Urd's fountain proceed noiselessly. It
is a silent journey. The bridge over Gjoll scarcely
resounds under the feet of the death-horses and of the
dead (Gylfaginning). The tongues of the shades are
sealed (see No. 70).
This thingstead has, like all others, had its judgment-
seats. Here are seats (in Voluspa called rokstolar) for
the holy powers acting as judges. There is also a rostrum
(d thularstoli at Urdar brunni — Havam., Ill) and
benches or chairs fon the dead (compare the phrase, folia
d Helpalla — Fornald., i. 397, and the sitting of the dead
one, a nornastoli — Solarlj., 51). Silent they must
receive their doom unless they possess mal-runes (see
No. 70).
The dead should come well clad and ornamented.
Warriors bring their weapons of attack and defence. The
women and children bring ornaments that they were fond
of in life. Hades-pictures of those things which kinsmen
and friends placed in the grave-mounds accompany the
dead (Hakonarm., 17; Gylfaginning, 52) as evidence to
the judge that they enjoyed the devotion and respect of
their survivors. The appearance presented by the shades
assembled in the Thing indicates to what extent the
survivors heed the law, which commands respect for the
dead and care for the ashes of the departed.
Many die under circumstances which make it impossi-
ble for their kinsmen to observe these duties. Then
strangers should take the place of kindred. The condition
in which these shades come to the Thing shows best
whether piety prevails in Midgard ; for noble minds take
506
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to heart the advices found as follows in Sigrdrifumal, 33,
34: "Render the last service to the corpses you find on
the ground, whether from sickness they have died, or
are drowned, or are from weapons dead. Make a bath for
those who are dead, wash their hands and their head,
comb them and wipe them dry, ere in the coffin you lay
them, and pray for their happy sleep."
It was, however, not necessary to wipe the blood off
from the byrnie of one fallen by the sword. It was not
improper for the elect to make their entrance in Valhal
in a bloody coat of mail. Eyvind Skaldaspiller makes
King Hakon come all stained with blood (allr i dreyra
drifinn) into the presence of Odin.
When the gods have arrived from Asgard, dismounted
from their horses (Gylfag.) and taken their judges' seats,
the proceedings begin, for the dead are then in their places,
and we may be sure that their psychopomps have not been
slow on their Thing- journey. Somewhere on the way
the Hel-shoes must have been tried; those who ride to
Valhal must then have been obliged to dismount. The
popular tradition first pointed out by Walter Scott and
J. Grimm about the need of such shoes for the dead and
about a thorn-grown heath, which they have to cross, is
not of Christian but of heathen origin. Those who have
shown mercy to fellowmen that in this life, in a figurative
sense, had to travel thorny paths, do not need to fear torn
shoes and bloody feet (W. Scott, Minstrelsy, ii.) ; and
when they are seated on Urd's benches, their very shoes
are, by their condition, a conspicuous proof in the eyes of
the court that they who have exercised mercy are worthy
of mercy. C07
11
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The Norse tradition preserved in Gisle Surson's saga in
regard to the importance for the dead to be provided with
shoes reappears as a popular tradition, first in England,
and then several places (Mullenhoff, Deutsche Alt., v. 1,
114; J. Grimm., Myth., iii. 697; nachtr., 349; Weinhold,
Altn. Leb., 494 ; Mannhardt in zeitschr. f. deutsch. Myth.,
iv. 4201; Simrock, Myth., v. 127). Visio Godeschalci
describes a journey which the pious Holstein peasant
Godeskalk, belonging to the generation immediately pre-
ceding that which by Vicelin was converted to Chris-
tianity, believed he had made in the lower world. There is
mentioned an immensely large and beautiful linden-tree
hanging full of shoes, which were handed down to such
dead travellers as had exercised mercy during their lives.
When the dead had passed this tree they had to cross a
heath two miles wide, thickly grown with thorns, and
then they came to a river full of irons with sharp edges.
The unjust had to wade through this river, and suffered
immensely. They were cut and mangled in every limb;
but when they reached the other strand, their bodies were
the same as they had been when they began crossing the
river. Compare with this statement Solarljod, 42, where
the dying skald hears the roaring of subterranean streams
mixed with much blood — Gylfar straumar grenjudu,
blandnir mjok ved blod. The just are able to cross the
river by putting their feet on boards a foot wide and
fourteen feet long, which floated on the water. This is
the first day's journey. On the second day they come to
a point where the road forked into three ways — one to
heaven, one to hell, and one between these realms (com pare
508
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Miillenhoff, D. Alt., v. 113, 114). These are all mythic
traditions, but little corrupted by time and change of
religion. That in the lower world itself Hel-shoes were
to be had for those who were not supplied with them,
but still deserved them, is probably a genuine mythologi-
cal idea.
Proofs and witnesses are necessary before the above-
named tribunal, for Odin is far from omniscient. He is
not even the one who knows the most among the beings
of mythology. Urd and Mimer know more than he.
With judges on the one hand who, in spite of all their
loftiness, and with all their superhuman keenness, never-
theless are not infallible, and with defendants on the other
hand whose tongues refuse to. serve them', it might happen,
if there were no proofs and witnesses, that a judgment,
everlasting in its operations, not founded on exhaustive
knowledge and on well-considered premises, might be
proclaimed. But the judgment on human souls pro-
claimed by their final irrevocable fate could not in the sight
of the pious and believing bear the stamp of uncertain
justice. There must be no doubt that the judicial pro-
ceedings in the court of death weref so managed that the
wisdom and justice of the dicta were raised high above
every suspicion of being mistaken.
The heathen fancy shrank from the idea of a knowledge
able of itself to embrace all, the greatest and the least,
that which has been, is doing, and shall be in the world
of thoughts, purposes, and deeds. It hesitated at all
events to endow its gods made in the image of man with
omniscience. It was easier to conceive a divine insight
509
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which was secured by a net of messengers and spies
stretched throughout the world. Such a net was cast
over the human race by Urd, and it is doubtless for this
reason that the subterranean Thing of the gods was
located near her fountain and not near Mimer's. Urd
has given to every human soul, already before the hcnir of
birth, a maid-servant, a hamingje, a norn of lower rank,
to watch over and protect its earthly life. And so there
was a wide-spread organization of watching and protect-
ing spirits, each one of whom knew the motives and deeds
of a special individual. As such an organisation was at
the service of the court, there was no danger that the
judgment over each one dead would not be as just as it
was unappealable and everlasting.
The hamingje hears of it before anyone else when her
mistress has announced dauda ord — the doom of death,
against her favourite. She (and the gipte, heille, see No.
64) leaves him then. She is horfin, gone, which can be
perceived in dreams (Balder's Dream, 4) or by revelations
in other ways, and this is an unmistakable sign of death.
But if the death-doomed person is not a nithing, whom
she in sorrow and wrath has left, then she by no means
abandons him. They are like members of the same body,
which can only be separated by mortal sins (see below).
The hamingje goes to the lower world, the home of her
nativity (see No. 64), to prepare an abode there for her
favourite, which also is to belong to her (Gisle Surson's
saga.) It is as if a spiritual marriage was entered into
between her and the human soul.
But on the dictum of the court of death it depends
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
where the dead person is to find his haven. The judg-
ment, although not pronounced on the hamingje, touches
her most closely. When the most important of all ques-
tions, that of eternal happiness or unhappiness, is to be
determined in regard to her favourite, she must be there
where her duty and inclination bid her be — with him
whose guardian-spirit she is. The great question for her
is whether she is to continue to share his fate or not.
During his earthly life she has always defended him. It
is of paramount importance that she should do so now.
His lips are sealed, but she is able to speak, and is his
other ego. And she is not only a witness friendly to him,
but, from the standpoint of the court, she is a more reliable
one than he would be himself.
In Atlamal (str. 28) there occurs a phrase which has
its origin in heathendom, where it has been employed in
a clearer and more limited sense than in the Christian
poem. The phrase is ec qued aflima ordnar ther disir,
and it means, as Atlamal uses it, that he to whom the
discs (the hamingje and gipte) have become aflima is
destined, in spite of all warnings, to go to his ruin. In
its very nature the phrase suggests that there can occur
between the hamingje and the human soul another separa-
tion than the accidental and transient one which is
expressed by saying that the hamingje is horfin. Aflima
means "amputated," separated by a sharp instrument from
the body of which one has been a member. The person
from whom his discs have been cut off has no longer any
close relation with them. He is for ever separated from
them, and his fate is no longer theirs. Hence there are
5"
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
persons doomed to die and persons dead who do not have
hamingjes by them. They are those whom the hamingjes
in sorrow and wrath have abandoned, and with whom
they are unable to dwell in the lower world, as they are
nithings and are awaited in Nifelhel.
The fact that a dead man sat a nornaistoli or a Helpalli
without having a hamingje to defend him doubtless was
regarded by the gods as a conclusive proof that he had
been a criminal.
If we may judge from a heathen expression preserved
in strophe 16 of Atlakvida, and there used in an arbitrary
manner, then the hamingjes who were "cut off" from
their unworthy favourite continue to feel sorrow and
sympathy for them to the last. The expression is nornir
grata nai, "the norns (hamingjes) bewail the nair." If
the namali, the na-dictum, the sentence to Nifelhel which
turns dead criminals into nair, in the eschatological sense
of the word, has been announced, the judgment is attended
with tears on the part of the former guardian-spirits of
the convicts. This corresponds, at all events, with the
character of the hamingjes.
Those fallen on the battlefield are not brought to the
fountain of Urd while the Thing is in session. This
follows from the fact that Odin is in Valhal when they
ride across Bi frost, and sends Asas or einherjes to meet
them with the goblet of mead at Asgard's gate (Eiriksm.,
Hakonarmal). But on the way there has been a separa-
tion of the good and bad elements among them. Those
who have no hamingjes must, a nornaistoli, wait for the
next Thing-day and their judgment. The Christian age
512
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
well remembered that brave warriors who had committed
nithing acts did not come to Valhal (see Hakon Jarl's
word in Njala). The heathen records confirm that men
slain by the sword who had lived a wicked life were sent
to the world of torture (see Harald Harfager's saga, ch.
27 — the verses about the viking Thorer Wood-beard, who
fell in a naval battle with Einar Ragnvaldson, and who
had been scourge to the Orkney ings).
The high court must have judged very leniently in
regard to certain human faults and frailties. Sitting long
by and looking diligently into the drinking-horn certainly
did not lead to any punishment worth mentioning. The
same was the case with fondness for female beauty, if
care was taken not to meddle with the sacred ties of
matrimony. With a pleasing frankness, and with much
humour, the Asa-father has told to the children of men
adventures which he himself has had in that line. He
warns against too much drinking, but admits without
reservation and hypocrisy that he himself once was drunk,
nay, very drunk, at Fjalar's and what he had to suffer,
on account of his uncontrollable longing for Billing's
maid, should be to men a hint not to judge each other too
severely in such matters (see Havamal.) All the less he
will do so as judge. Those who are summoned to the Thing
and against whom there are no other charges, may surely
count on a good ords tirr, if they in other respects have
conducted themselves in accordance with the wishes of
Odin and his associate judges : if they have lived lives free
from deceit, honourable, helpful, and without fear of
death. This, in connection with respect for the gods,
513
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
for the temples, for their duties to kindred and to the
dead, is the alpha and the omega of the heathen Teutonic
moral code, and the sure way to Hel's regions of bliss and
to Valhal. He who has observed these virtues may, as the
old skald sings of himself, "glad, with serenity and with-
out discouragement, wait for Hel."
Skal ek tho gladr
med godan vilja
ok uhryggr
Heljar bida (Sonatorrek, 24).
If the judgment on the dead is lenient in these respects,
it is inexorably severe in other matters. Lies uttered to
injure others, perjury, murder (secret murder, assassina-
tion, not justified as blood-revenge) , adultery, the profan-
ing of temples, the opening of grave-mounds, treason,
cannot escape their awful punishment. Unutterable
terrors await those who are guilty of these sins. Those
psychopomps that belong to Nifelhel await the adjourn-
ment of the Thing in order to take them to the world of
torture, and Urd has chains (Heljar reip — Solarljod, 27 ;
Des Todes Seil—j. Grimm, D. Myth., 805) which make
every escape impossible.
72.
THE HADES-DRINK.
Before the dead leave the thingstead near Urd's foun-
tain, something which obliterated the marks of earthly
death has happened to those who are judged happy.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Pale, cold, mute, and with the marks of the spirits of
disease, they left Midgard and started on the Hel-way.
They leave the death-Thing full of the warmth of life,
with health, with speech, and more robust than they were
on earth. The shades have become corporal. When
those slain by the sword ride over the Gjoll to Urd's
fountain, scarcely a sound is heard under the hoofs of their
horses; when they ride away from the fountain over
Bifrost, the bridge resounds under the trampling horses.
The sagas of the middle ages have preserved, but at the
same time demonised, the memory of how Hel's inhabi-
tants were endowed with more than human strength
(Gretla, 134, and several other passages).
The life of bliss presupposes health, but also forgetful-
ness of the earthly sorrows and cares. The heroic poems
and the sagas of the middle ages have known that there
was a Hades-potion which brings freedom from sorrow
and care, without obliterating dear memories or making
one forget that which can be remembered without longing
or worrying. In the mythology this drink was, as shall
be shown, one that produced at the same time vigour of
life and the forgetfulness of sorrows.
In Saxo, and in the heroic poems of the Elder Edda,
which belong to the Gjukung group of songs, there
reappear many mythical details, though they are some-
times taken out of their true connection and put in a
light which does not originally belong to them. Among
the mythical reminiscences is the Hades-potion.
In his account of King Gorm's and Thorkil's journey to
the lower world, Saxo (see No 46) makes Thorkil warn
515
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
his travelling companions from tasting the drinks offered
them by the prince of the lower world, for the reason
that they produce forget fulness, and make one desire to
remain in Gudmund's realm (Hist., Dem,., i. 424 — amissa
memoria . . . pocalis abstinendum edocuit).
The Gudrun song (ii. 21) places the drinking-horn of
the lower world in Grimhild's hands. In connection with
later additions, the description of this horn and its contents
contains purely mythical and very instructive details in
regard to the pharmakon nepenthes of the Teutonic lower
world.
Str. 21. Faerdi mer Grimildr
full at drecka
svalt oc sarlict,
ne ec sacar mundac;
thar var um aukit
Urdar magni,
svalcauldom sx
oc Sonar dreyra.
Str. 22. Voro i horni
hverskyns stafir
ristnir oc rodnir,
ratha ec ne mattac,
lyngfiscr langr
lands Haddingja,
ax oscorit,
innleid dyra.
"Grimhild handed me in a filled horn to drink a cool,
bitter drink, in order that I might forget my past afflic-
tions. This drink was prepared from Urd's strength,
cool-cold sea, and the liquor of Son*."
"On the horn were all kinds of staves engraved and
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
painted, which I could not interpret : the Hadding-land's
long heath-fish, unharuested ears of grain, and animals'
entrances."
The Hadding-land is, as Sv. Egilsson has already
pointed out, a paraphrase of the lower world. The para-
phrase is based on the mythic account known and men-
tioned by Saxo in regard to Hadding' s journey in Hel's
realm (see No. 47).
Heath-fish is a paraphrase of the usual sort for serpent,
dragon. Hence a lower-world dragon was engraved on
the horn. More than one of the kind has been mentioned
already : Nidhog, who has his abode in Nifelhel, and the
dragon, which, according to Erik Vidforle's saga,,
obstructs the way to Odain's-acre. The dragon engraved
on the horn is that of the Hadding-land. Hadding1-
land, on the other hand, does not mean the whole lower
world, but the regions of bliss visited by Hadding. Thus
the dragon is such an one as Erik Vidforle's saga had in
mind. That the author did not himself invent his dragon,
but found it in mythic records extant at the time, is demon-
strated by Solar Ijod (54), where it is said that immense
subterranena dragons come flying from the west — the
opposite direction of that the shades have to take when
they descend into the lower world — and obstruct "the
street of the prince of splendour" (glavalds gotu). The
ruler of splendour is Mimer, the prince of the Glittering
Fields (see Nos. 45-51).
The Hadding-land's "unharvested ears of grain"
belong to the flora inaccessible to the devastations of frost,
the flowers seen by Hadding in the blooming meadows of
517
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the world below (see No. 47). The expression refers to
the fact that the Hadding-land has not only imperishable
flowers and fruits, but also fields of grain which do not
require harvesting. Compare herewith what Voluspa
says about the Odain's-acre which in the regeneration of
the earth rises from the lap of the sea : "unsown the fields
yield the grain."
Beside the heath-fish and the unharvested ears of grain,
there were also seen on the Hadding-land horn dyra-
innleid. Some interpreters assume that "animals entrails"
are meant by this expression; others have translated it
with "animal gaps." There is no authority that innleid
ever meant entrails, nor could it be so used in a rhetorical-
poetical sense, except by a very poor poet. Where we
meet with the word it means a way, a way in, in contrast
with utleid, a way out. As both Gorms saga and that of
Erik Vidforle use it in regard to animals watching
entrances in the lower world, this gives the expression its
natural interpretation.
So much for the staves risted on the horn. They all
refer to the lower world. Now as to the drink which is
mixed in this Hades-horn. It consists of three liquids :
Urdar Magn, Urd's strength,
svalkaldr sasr, cool-cold sea,
Sonar dreyri. Son's liquid.
Son has already been mentioned above (No. 21) as one
of the names of Mimer's fountain, the well of creative
power and of poetry. Of Son Eilif Gudrunson sings that
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
it is enwreathed by bulrushes and is surrounded by a
border of meadow on which grows the seed of poetry.
As Urd's strength is a liquid mixed in the horn, nothing
else can be meant thereby than the liquid in Urd's foun-
tain, which gives the warmth of life to the world-tree, and
gives it strength to resist the cold (see No. 63).
From this it is certain that at least two of the three
subterranean fountains made their contributions to the
drink. There remains the well Hvergelmer, and the ques-
tion now is, whether it and the liquid it contains can be
recognised as the cool-cold sea. Hvergelmer is, as we
know, the mother-fountain of all waters, even of the ocean
(see No. 59). That this immense cistern is called a sea
is nol strange, since also Urd's fountain is so styled (in
Voluspa, Cod. Reg., 19.) Hvergelmer is situated under
the northern root of the world-tree near the borders of
the subterranean realm of the rime-thurses — that is, the
powers of frost; and the Elivagar rivers flowing thence
formed the ice in Nifelheim. Cool (Svol) is the name
of one of the rivers which have their source in Hvergel-
mer (Grimnersmal). Cool-cold sea is therefore the most
suitable word with which to designate Hvergelmer when
its own name is not to be used.
All those fountains whose liquids are sucked up by the
roots of the world-tree, and in its stem blend into the sap
which gives the tree imperishable strength of life, are
accordingly mixed in the lower-world horn (cp. No. 21).
That Grimhild, & human being dwelling on earth,
should have access to and free control of these fountains
is, of course, from a mythological standpoint, an absur-
519
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dity. From the standpoint of the Christian time the
absurdity becomes probable. The sacred things and
forces of the lower world are then changed into deviltry
and arts of magic, which are at the service of witches.
So the author of Gudrunarkvida (ii.) has regarded the
matter. But in his time there was still extant a tradition,
or a heathen song, which spoke of the elements of the
drink which gave to the dead who had descended to Hel,
and were destined for happiness, a higher and more endur-
ing power of life ,and also soothed the longing and sorrow
which accompanied the recollection of the life on earth,
and this tradition was used in the description of Grimhild's
drink of forgetfulness.
Magn is the name of the liquid from Urd's fountain,
since it magnar, gives strength. The word magna has
preserved from the days of heathendom the sense of
strengthening in a supernatural manner by magical or
superhuman means. Vigfusson (Diet., 408) gives a
number of examples of this meaning. In Heimskringla
(ch. 8) Odin "magns" Mimer's head, which is chopped
off, in such a manner that it recovers the power of speech.
In Stgrdrifumal (str. 12) Odin himself is, as we have
seen, called magni, "the one magning," as the highest
judge of the lower world, who gives magn to the dead
from the Hades-horn.
' The author of the second song about Helge Hundings-
bane has known of dyrar veilgar, precious liquids of which
those who have gone to Hel partake. The dead Helge
says that when his beloved Sigrun is to share them with
him, then it is of no consequence that they have lost
520
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
earthly joy and kingdoms, and that no one must lament
that his breast was tortured with wounds (Helge Hund.,
ii. 46.) The touching finale of this song, though pre-
served only in fragments, and no doubt borrowed from a
heathen source, shows that the power of the subterranean
potion to allay longing and sorrow had its limits. The
survivors should mourn over departed loved ones with
moderation, and not forget that they are to meet again,
for too batter tears of sorrow fall as a cold dew on the
breast of the dead one and penetrate it with pain (str. 45).
73.
THE HADES-DRINK (continued), THE HADES-HORN
EMBELUSHED WITH SERPENTS.
In Sonatorrek (str. 18) the skald (Egil Skallagrimson)
conceives himself with the claims of a father to keep his
children opposed to a stronger power which has also made
a claim on them. This power is firm in its resolutions
against Egil (stendr a fostum thokk a hendi mer) ; but,
at the same time, it is lenient toward his children, and
bestows on them the lot of happiness. The mythic person
who possesses this power is by the skald called Fans hrosta
hilmir, "the lord of Fann's brewing."
Fawn is a mythical serpent- and dragon-name (Younger
Edda, ii. 487, 570). The serpent or dragon which
possessed this name in the myths or sagas must have been
one which was engraved or painted somewhere. This is
521
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
evident from the word itself, which is a contraction of
fdinn, engraved, painted (cp. Egilsson's Lex. Poet., and
Vigfusson's Diet., sub voce). Its character as such does
not hinder it from being endowed with a magic life (see
below.) The object on which it was engraved or painted
must have been a drinking-horn, whose contents (brew-
ing) is called by Egil Pawn's, either because the serpent
encircled the horn which contained the drink, or because
the horn, on which it was engraved, was named after it.
In no other way can the expression, Pawn's brewing, be
explained, for an artificial serpent or dragon is neither the
one who brews the drink nor the malt from which it is
brewed.
The possessor of the horn, embellished with Pawn's
image, is the mythical person who, to Egil's vexation, has
insisted on the claim of the lower world to his sons. If
the skald has paraphrased correctly, that is to say, if he
has produced a paraphrase which refers to the character
here in question of the person indicated by the paraphrase,
then it follows that "Pawn's brewing" and Pann himself,
like their possessor, must have been in some way connected
with the lower world.
From the mythic tradition in Gudrunarkvida (ii.), we
already know that a serpent, "a long heath-fish," is
engraved and painted on the subterranean horn, whose
sorrow-allaying mead is composed of the liquid of the
three Hades-fountains.
When King Gorm (Hist., Dan., 427; cp. No. 46)
made his journey of discovery in the lower world, he saw
a vast ox-horn (ingens bubali cornu) there. It lay near
522
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the gold-clad mead-cisterns, the fountains of the lower
world. Its purpose of being filled with their liquids is
sufficiently clear from its location. We are also told that
it was carved with figures (nee calatura artificio
vacuum), like the subterranean horn in Gudrunarkvida.
One of Gorm's men is anxious to secure the treasure.
Then the horn lengthens into a dragon who kills the
would-be robber (cornu in draconem extractum sui spirit-
urn latoris eripuit. ) Like Slidrugtanne and other subter-
ranean treasures, the serpent or dragon on the drinking-
horn of the lower world is endowed with life when
necessary, or the horn itself acquires life in the form of a
dragon, and punishes with death him who has no right to
touch it. The horn itself is accordingly a Fdnn, an artifi-
cial serpent or dragon, and its contents is Fdnn's hrosti
(Fdnn's brewing).
The Icelandic middle-age sagas have handed down the
memory of an aurocks-horn (urarhorn), which was found
in the lower world, and was there used to drink from
(Fornald., in. 616).
Thus it follows that the hilmir Fan's hrasta, "the lord
of Fan's brewing," mentioned by Egil, is the master of
the Hades-horn, he who determines to whom it is to be
handed, in order that they may imbibe vigour and forget-
fulness of sorrow from "Urd's strength, cool sea, and
Son's liquid." And thus the meaning of the strophe here
discussed (Sonatorrek, 18) is made perfectly clear. Egil's
deceased sons have drunk from this horn, and thus they
have been initiated as dwellers for ever in the lower world.
Hence the skald can say that Hilmir Fan's hrosta was
12 523
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
inexorably firm against him, their father, who desired to
keep his sons with him.*
From Voluspa (str. 28, 29), and from Gylfaginning
(ch. 15), it appears that the mythology knew of a drink-
ing horn which belonged at the same time, so to speak,
both to Asgard and to the lower world. Odin is its posses-
sor, Mimer its keeper. A compact is made between the
Asas dwelling in heaven and the powers dwelling in the
lower world, and a security (ved} is given for the keeping
of the agreement. On the part of the Asas and their clan
patriarch Odin, the security given is a drinking-horn.
From this "Valfather's pledge" Mimer every morning
drinks mead from his fountain of wisdom (Voluspa, 29),
and from the same horn he waters the root of the world-
tree (Voluspa, 28). As Miillenhoff has already pointed
out (D. Altertk., v. 100 ff.), this drinking-horn is not to
be confounded with Heimdal's war-trumpet, the Gjallar-
horn, though Gylfaginning is also guilty of this mistake.
*The interpretation of the passage, which has hitherto prevailed, begins
with a text emendation. Fdnn is changed to Finn. Finn is the name of a
dwarf. Finns hrosti is "the dwarf's drink," and "the dwarf's drink" is, on
the authority of the Younger Edda, synonymous with poetry. The possessor
of Finns hrosti is Odin, the lord of poetry. With text emendations of this
sort (they are numerous, are based on false notions in regard to the adapta-
bility of the Icelandic Christian poetics to the heathen poetry and usually
quote Gylfaginning as authority) we can produce anything we like from
the statements of the ancient records. Odin's character as the Lord of
poetry has not the faintest idea in common with the contents of the strophe.
His character as judge at the court near Urd's fountain, and as the one
who, as the judge of the dead, has authority over the liquor in the sub-
terranean horn, is on the other hand closely connected with the contents-
of the strophe, and is alone able to make it consistent and intelligible.
Further on in the poem, Egil speaks of Odin as the lord of poetry. Odin,
he says, has not only been severe against him (in the capacity of hilmir
Fdns hrosta), but he has also been kind in bestowing the gift of poetry,
and therewith consolation in sorrow (bolva bcetr). The paraphrase here used
by Egil for Odin's name is Mims vinr (Mimer's friend). From Mimer Odin
received the drink of inspiration, and thus the paraphrase is in harmony
with the sense. As hilmir Fdns hrosta Odin has wounded Egil's heart ; as
Mims vinr (Mimer's friend) he has given him balsam for the wounds
inflicted. This two-sided conception of Odin's relation to the poet permeates
the whole poem.
524
Thus the drinking-horn given to Mimer by Valfather
represents a treaty between the powers of heaven and of
the lower world. Can it be any other than the Hades-
horn, which, at the thingstead near Urd's fountain, is
employed in the service both of the Asa-gods and of the
lower world? The Asas determine the happiness or
unhappiness of the dead, and consequently decide what
persons are to taste the strength-giving mead of the horn.
But the horn has its place in the lower world, is kept there
— there performs a task of the greatest importance, and
gets its liquid from the fountains of the lower world.
What Mimer gave Odin in exchange is that drink of
wisdom, without which he would not have been able to
act as judge in matters concerning eternity, but after
receiving the which he was able to find and proclaim the
right decisions (ord} (ord mer af ordi ordz leitadi — Hav.,
141). Both the things exchanged are, therefore, used at
the Thing near Urd's fountain. The treaty concerned
the lower world, and secured to the Asas the power
necessary, in connection with their control of mankind
and with their claim to be worshipped, to dispense happi-
ness and unhappiness in accordance with the laws of
religion and morality. Without this power the Asas
would have been of but little significance. Urd and
Mimer would have been supreme.
With the dyrar veigar (precious liquids), of which the
dead Helge speaks, we must compare the skiratr veigar
(clear liquids), which, according to Vegtamskvida,
awaited the dead Balder in the lower world. After tast-
ing of it, the god who had descended to Hades regained
525
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
his broken strength, and the earth again grew green (see
No. 53).
In dyrar veigar, skirar veigar, the plural form must not
be passed over without notice. The contents of one and
the same drink are referred to by the plural veigar —
Her stendr Balldri Here stands for Balder
of brugginn micedr mead brewed
skirar veigar clear "veigar" (Vegt., 7) —
which can only be explained as referring to a drink pre-
pared by a mixing of several liquids, each one of which
is a veig. Originally veigar seems always to have design-
ated a drink of the dead, allaying their sorrows and giving
them new life. In Hyndluljod (50) dyrar veigar has the
meaning of a potion of bliss which Ottar, beloved by
Freyja, is to drink. In strophe 48, Freyja threatens the
sorceress Hyndla with a fire, which is to take her hence
for ever. In strophe 49, Hyndla answers the threat with
a similar and worse one. She says she already sees the
conflagration of the world; there shall nearly all beings
"suffer the loss of life" (verda flestir fjorlausn thola},
Freyja and her Ottar of course included, and their final
destiny, according to Hyndla's wish, is indicated by
Freyja's handing Ottar a pain-foreboding, venomous
drink. Hyndla invokes on Freyja and Ottar the flames of
Ragnarok and damnation. Freyja answers by including
Ottar in the protection of the gods, and foretelling that he
is to drink dyrar veigar.
Besides in these passages veigar occurs in a strophe
composed by Ref Gestson, quoted in Skaldskaparmal, ch.
526
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
2. Only half of the strophe is quoted, so that it is
impossible to determine definitely the meaning of the
veigar referred to by the skald. We only see that they
are given by Odin, and that "we" must be grateful to
him for them. The half strophe is possibly a part of a
death-song which Ref Gestson is known to have com-
posed on his foster-father, Gissur.
Veig in the singular means not only drink, but also
power, strength. Perhaps Bugge is right in claiming that
this was the original meaning of the word. The plural
veigar accordingly means strengths. That this expression
"strengths" should come to designate in a rational manner
a special drink must be explained by the fact that "the
strengths" was the current expression for the liquids of
which the invigorating mythical drink was composed.
The three fountains of the lower world are the strength-
givers of the universe, and as we have already seen, it is
the liquids of these wells that are mixed into the wonder-
ful brewing in the subterranean horn.
When Eilif Gudrunson, the skald converted to Chris-
tianity, makes Christ, who gives the water of eternal life,
sit near Urd's fountain, then this is a Christianised
heathen idea, and refers to the power of this fountain's
water to give, through the judge of the world, to the pious
a less troublesome life than that on earth. The water
which gives warmth to the world-tree and heals its wounds
is to be found in the immediate vicinity of the thingstead,
and has also served to strengthen and heal the souls of
the dead.
To judge from Hyndluljod (49), those doomed to
527
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
unhappiness must also partake of some drink. It is
"much mixed with venom" (eitri blandinn miok}, and
forebodes them evil (illu heilli}. They must, therefore,
be compelled to drink it before they enter the world of
misery, and accordingly, no doubt, while they sit a norna-
stoli on the very thingstead. The Icelandic sagas of the
middle ages know the venom drink as a potion of misery.
It appears that this potion of unhappiness did not loosen
the speechless tongues of the damned. Hitr means the
lowest degree of cold and poison at the same time, and
would not, therefore, be serviceable for that purpose, since
the tongues were made speechless with cold. In Saxo's
descriptions of the regions of misery in the lower world,
it is only the torturing demons that speak. The dead
are speechless, and suffer their agonies without uttering a
sound; but, when the spirits of torture so desire, and
force and egg them on they can produce a howl (mug-
itus. ) There broods a sort of muteness over the forecourt
of the domain of torture, the Nifelheim inhabited by the
frost-giants, acording to Skirnersmal's description thereof
(see No. 60.) Skirner threatens Gerd that she, among
her kindred there, shall be more widely hated than Heim-
dal himself; but the manner in which they express this
hate is with staring eyes, not with words (a thic Hrimnir
hari, a thic hotvetna stari — str. 28).
74.
AFTER THE JUDGMENT. THE LOT OF THE BLESSED.
When a deceased who has received a good ords tirr
528
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
leaves the Thing, he is awaited in a home v/hich his ham-
ingje has arranged for her favourite somewhere in "the
green worlds of the gods." But what he first has to do is to
leita kynnis, that is, visit kinsmen and friends who have
gone before him to their final destination (Sonatorr., 17).
Here he finds not only those with whom he became per-
sonally acquainted on earth, but he may also visit and
converse with ancestors from the beginning of time, and
he may hear the history of his race, nay, the history of
all past generations, told by persons who were eye-wit-
nesses. The ways he travels are muwuegar (Sonatorr.,
10), paths of pleasure, where the wonderful regions of
Urd's and Mimer's realms lie open before his eyes.
Those who have died in their tender years are received
by a being friendly to children, which Egil Skallagrimson
(Sonatorrek, 20) calls Gauta spjalli. The expression
means "the one with whom Odin counsels," "Odin's
friend." As the same poem (str. 22) calls Odin Mimer's
friend, and as in the next place Gauta spjalli is charac-
terised as a ruler in Godheim (compare gr&nar heimar
goda — Hakonarmal, 12), he must either be Mimer, who
is Odin's friend and adviser from his youth until his death,
or he must be Honer, who also is styled Odin's friend,
his sessi and mdli. That Mimer was regarded as the
friend of dead children corresponds with his vocation as
the keeper in his grove of immortality Mimisholt, of the
Asa-children, the asmegir, who are to be the mankind of
the regenerated world. But Honer too has an important
calling in regard to children (see No. 95), and it must
therefore be left undecided which one of the two is here
meant.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Egil is convinced that his drowned son Bodvar found
a harbour in the subterranean regions of bliss.* The
land to which Bodvar comes is called by Egil "the home
of the bee-ship" (byskips beer.) The poetical figure is
taken from the experience of seamen, that birds who have
grown tired on their way across the sea alight on ships to
recuperate their strength. In Egil's paraphrase the bee
corresponds to the bird, and the honey-blossom where the
bee alights corresponds to the ship. The fields of bliss
are the haven of the ship laden with honey. The figure
may be criticised on the point of poetic logic, but is of a
charming kind on the lips of the hardy old viking, and it
is at the same time very appropriate in regard to a charac-
teristic quality ascribed to the fields of bliss. For they
are the proper home of the honey-dew which falls early
in the morning from the world-tree into the dales near
Urd's fountain (Voluspa). Lif and Leifthraser live
through ages on this dew (see Nos. 52, 53), and doubt-
less this same Teutonic ambrosia is the food of the happy
dead. The dales of the earth also unquestionably get
their share of the honey-dew, which was regarded as the
fertilising and nourishing element of the ground. But
the earth gets her share directly from Rimfaxe, the steed
of the Hades-goddess Nat. This steed, satiated with the
grass of the subterranean meadows, produces with his
mouth a froth which is honey-dew, and from his bridle the
dew drops "in the dales" in the morning (Vafthr., 14).
The same is true of the horses of the valkyries coming
*Likewise the warlike skald Kormak is certain that he would have come
to Valhal in case he had been drowned under circumstances described in
his saga, a work which is, however, very unreliable.
530
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
from the lower world. From their manes, when they
shake them, falls dew "in deep dales," and thence come
harvests among the peoples (Helge Hjorv., 28.)
75.
AFTER THE JUDGMENT (continued}. THE FATE OE THE
DAMNED. THEIR PATH. ARRIVAL, AT THE NA-GATES.
When the na-dictum (the judgment of those who have
committed sins unto death) has been proclaimed, they
must take their departure for their terrible destination.
They cannot take flight. The locks and fetters of the
norns (Urdar lokur, H el jar reip} hold them prisoners,
and amid the tears of their former hamingjes (nornir
grata nai) they are driven along their path by heiptir,
armed with rods of thorns, who without mercy beat their
lazy heels. The technical term for these instruments of
torture is limar, which seems to have become a word for
eschatological punishment in general. In Sigrdrifumal
(23) it is said that horrible limar shall fall heavy on those
who have broken oaths and promises, or betrayed con-
fidence. In Sigurd Fafnesb. (ii. 3) it is stated that
everyone who has lied about another shall long be
tortured with limar. Both the expressions troll brut.% hris
i hcela theim and troll visi ydr til burs have their root in
the recollection of the myth concerning the march of the
damned under the rod of the Eumenides to Nifelhel (see
further on this point Nos. 91 and 123).
Their way from Urd's well goes to the north (see No.
63) through Mimer's domain. It is ordained that before
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
their arrival at the home of torture they are to see the
regions of bliss. Thus they know what they have for-
feited. Then their course is past Mimer's fountain, the
splendid dwellings of Balder and the dsmegir, the golden
hall of Sindre's race (see Nos. 93, 94), and to those
regions where mother Nat rests in a hall built on the
southern spur of the Nida mountains (Forspjallsljod).
The procession proceeds up this mountain region through
valleys and gorges in which the rivers flowing from Hver-
gelmer find their way to the south. The damned leave
Hvergelmer in their rear and cross the border rivers
Hraunn (the subterranean Elivagar rivers, see No. 59),
on the other side of which rise Nifelhel's black, perpendic-
ular mountain-walls (Saxo, Hist., Dan.; see No. 46).
Ladders or stairways lead across giddying precipices to
the Na-gates. Howls and barking from the monstrous
Nifelheim dogs watching the gates (see Nos. 46, 58) an-
nounce the arrival of the damned. Then hasten, in compact
winged flocks, monsters, Nifelheim's birds of prey, Nid-
hog, Are, Hrcesvelger, and their like to the south, and
alight on the rocks around the Na-gates (see below).
When the latter are opened on creaking hinges, the
damned have died their second death. To that event,
which is called "the second death," and to what this con-
sists of, I shall return below (see No. 95).
Those who have thus marched to a terrible fate are
sinners of various classes. Below Nifelheim there are
nine regions of punishment. That these correspond to
nine kinds of unpardonable sins is in itself probable, and is
to some extent confirmed by Solarljod, if this poem, stand-
532
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ing almost on the border-line between heathendom and
Christianity, may be taken as a witness. Solarljod enum-
erates nine or ten kinds of punishments for as many differ-
ent kinds of sins. From the purely heathen records we
know that enemies of the gods (Loke), perjurers, mur-
derers, adulterers (see Voluspa), those who have violated
faith and the laws, and those who have lied about others,
are doomed to Nifelhel for ever, or at least for a very long
time (oflengi — Sig. Fafn., ii. 3). Of the unmerciful we
know that they have already suffered great agony on
their way to Urd's fountain. Both in reference to them
and to others, it doubtless depended on the investigation
at the Thing whether they could be ransomed or not.
The sacredness of the bond of kinship was strongly
emphasised in the eschatological conceptions. Niflgodr,
"good for the realm of damnation," is he who slays kins-
men and sells the dead body of his brother for rings ( Son-
atorrek, 15) ; but he who in all respects has conducted
himself in a blameless manner toward his kinsmen and
is slow to take revenge if they have wronged him, shall
reap advantage therefrom after death (Sigrdr., 22).
When the damned come within the Na-gates, the
winged demons rush at the victims designated for them,
press them under their wings, and fly with them through
Nifelheim's foggy space to the departments of torture
appointed for them. The seeress in Voluspa (str. 62) sees
Nidhog, loaded with ndir under his wings, soar away
from the Nida mountains. Whither he was accustomed
to fly with them appears from strophe 38, where he in
Nastrands is sucking his prey. When King Gorm, beyond
533
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
i ' ,
the above-mentioned boundary river, and by the Nida
mountains' ladders, had reached the Na-gates opened for
him, he sees dismal monsters (Icwvtz atra; cp. Voluspa's
in dimmi <dreki~) in dense crowds, and hears the air filled
with their horrible screeches (cp. Voluspa's Ari hlaccar,
slitr nai neffaulr, 47). When Solarljod's skald enters
the realm of torture he sees "scorched" birds which are
not birds but souls (sdlir), flying "numerous as gnats."
76.
THE PEACES OF PUNISHMENT.
The regions over which the flocks of demons fly are the
same as those which the author of Skirnersmal has in
view when Skirner threatens Gerd with sending her to
the realms of death. It is the home of the frost-giants,
of the subterranean giants, and of the spirits of disease.
Here live the offspring of Ymer's feet, the primeval giants
strangely born and strangely bearing, who are waiting
for the quaking of Ygdrasil and for the liberation of their
chained leader, in order that they may take revenge on the
gods in Ragnarok, and who in the meantime contrive
futile plans of attack on Hvergelmer's fountain or on the
north end of the Bi frost bridge. Here the demons of
restless uneasiness, of mental agony, of convulsive weep-
ing, and of insanity (Othale, Morn. Ope, and Tope) have
their home; and here dwells also their queen, Loke's
daughter, Leikin, whose threshold is precipice and whose
bed is disease. According to the authority used by Saxo
in the description of Gorm's journey, the country is
534
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
thickly populated. Saxo calls it urbs, oppidum (cp. Skir-
nismal's words about the giant-homes, among which Gerd
is to drag herself hopeless from house to house). The
ground is a marsh with putrid water (putidum coenum),
which diffuses a horrible stench. The river Slid flowing
north out of Hvergelmer there seeks its way in a muddy
stream to the abyss which leads down to the nine places
of punishment. Over all hovers Nifelheim's dismal sky.
The mortals who, like Gorm and his men, have been
permitted to see these regions, and who have conceived
the idea of descending into those worlds which lie below
Nifelheim, or the most of them, are vast mountain caves,
abyss in question and have cast a glance down into it.
The place is narrow, but there is enough daylight for its
bottom to be seen, and the sight thereof is terrible. Still,
there must have been a path down to it, for when Gorm
and his men had recovered from the first impression, they
continued their journey to their destination (Geirrod's
place of punishment), although the most terrible vapour
(teterrimus vapor) blew into their faces. The rest that
Saxo relates is unfortunately wanting both in sufficient
clearness and in completeness. Without the risk of mak-
ing a mistake, we may, however, consider it as mythically
correct that some of the nine worlds of punishment below
Nifelheim, or the most of them, are vast mountain caves,
mutually united by openings broken through the mountain
walls and closed with gates, which do not however,
obstruct the course of Slid to the Nastrands and to the sea
outside. Saxo speaks of a perfractam scopuli partem,
"a pierced part of the mountain," through which travel-
535
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
lers come from one of the subterranean caves to another,
and between the caves stand gatekeepers (janitores).
Thus there must be gates. At least two of these "homes"
have been named after the most notorious sinner found
within them. Saxo speaks of one called the giant Geir-
rod's, and an Icelandic document of one called the giant
Geitir's. The technical term for such a cave of torture
was guyskuti (clamour-grotto). Saxo translates skuti
with conclave saxewm. "To thrust anyone before Geitir's
clamour-grotto" — reka einn fyrir Geitis guyskuta — was a
phrase synonymous with damning a person to death and
hell.
The gates between the clamour-grottoes are watched by
various kinds of demons. Before each gate stand several
who in looks and conduct seem to symbolise the sins over
whose perpetrators they keep guard. Outside of one of
the caves of torture Gorm's men saw club-bearers who
tried their weapons on one another. Outside of another
gate the keepers amused themselves with "a monstrous
game" in which they "mutually gave their ram-backs a
curved motion." It is to be presumed that some sort of
perpetrators of violence were tortured within the thresh-
old, which was guarded by the club-bearers, and that
the ram-shaped demons amused themselves outside of the
torture-cave of debauchees. It is also probable that the
latter is identical with the one called Geitir's. The name
Geitir comes from geit, goat. Saxo, who Latinised Geitir
into Gotharus, tells adventures of his which show that
this giant had tried to get possession of Freyja, and that
he is identical with Gymer, Gerd's father. According to
536
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Skirnersmal (35), there are found in Nifelhel goats, that
is to say, trolls in goat-guise, probably of the same kind as
those above-mentioned, and it may be with an allusion to
the fate which awaits Gymer in the lower world, or with
a reference to his epithet Geitir, that Skirner threatens
Gerd with the disgusting drink (geita hland} which will
there be given her by "the sons of misery" (velmegir').
One of the lower-world demons, who as his name indi-
cates, was closely connected with Geitir, is called "Geitir's
Howl-foot" (Geitis Guyfeti) ; and the expression "to
thrust anyone before Geitir's Howl-foot" thus has the
same meaning as to send him to damnation.
Continuing their journey, Gorm and his men came to
Geirrod's skuti (see No. 46).
We learn from Saxo's description that in the worlds of
torture there are seen not only terrors, but also delusions
which tempt the eyes of the greedy. Gorm's prudent cap-
tain Thorkil (see No. 46) earnestly warns his companions
not to touch these things, for hands that come in contact
with them are fastened and are held as by invisible bonds.
The illusions are characterised by Saxo as adis snpellec-
tilis, an expression which is ambiguous, but may be an
allusion that they represented things pertaining to tem-
ples. The statement deserves to be compared with Solarl-
jod's strophe 65, where the skald sees in the lower world
persons damned, whose hands are riveted together with
burning stones. They are the mockers at religious rites
(they who minst vildu halda helga daga) who are thus
punished. In the mythology it was probably profaners
of temples who suffered this punishment.
537
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The Nastrands and the hall there are thus described in
Voluspa :
Sal sa hon standa
solu fjarri
Nastrondu a
nordr horfa dyrr;
fellu eitrdropar
inn um Ijora,
Sa er undinn salr
orma hryggjum.
Sa hon thar vada
thunga strauma
menn meinsvara
ok mordvarga
ok thanns annars glepr
eyraruna;
thar saug Nidhoggr
nai framgengna,
sleit vargr vera.
"A hall she saw stand far from the sun on the Nas-
trands; the doors opened to the north. Venom-drops
fell through the roof-holes. Braided is that hall of ser-
pent-backs."
"There she saw perjurers, murderers, and they who
betrayed the wife of another (adulterers) wade through
heavy streams. There Nidhog sucked the ndir of the
dead. And the wolf tore men into pieces."
Gylfaginning (ch. 52) assumes that the serpents, whose
backs, wattled together, form the hall, turn their heads
into the hall, and that they, especially through the open-
ings in the roof (according to Codex Ups. and Codex
Hypnones.), vomit forth their floods of venom. The
538
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
latter assumption is well founded. Doubtful seems, on
the other hand, Gylfaginning's assumption that "the
heavy streams," which the damned in Nastrands have to
wade through, flow out over the floor of the hall. As
the very name Nastrands indicates that the hall is situated
near a water, then this water, whether it be the river Slidr
with its eddies filled with weapons, or some other river,
may send breakers on shore and thus produce the heavy
streams which Voluspa mentions. Nevertheless Gylfa-
ginning's view may be correct The hall of Nastrands,
like its counterpart Valhal, has certainly been regarded
as immensely large. The serpent-venom raining down
must have fallen on the floor of the hall, and there is
nothing to hinder the venom-rain from being thought
sufficiently abundant to form "heavy streams" thereon
(see below).
Saxo's description of the hall in Nastrands — by him
adapted to the realm of torture in general — is as follows :
"The doors are covered with the soot of ages; the walls
are bespattered with filth ; the roof is closely covered with
barbs; the floor is strewn with serpents and bespawled
with all kinds of uncleanliness." The last statement con-
firms Gylfaginning's view. As this bespawling continues
without ceasing through ages, the matter thus produced
must grow into abundance and have an outlet. Remark-
able is also Saxo's statement, that the doors are covered
with the soot of ages. Thus fires must be kindled near
these doors. Of this more later.
13 539
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
77.
THE PLACES OF PUNISHMENT (continued). THE
IN NASTRANDS.
Without allowing myself to propose any change of text
in the Voluspa strophes above quoted, and in pursuance
of the principle which I have adopted in this work, not to
base any conclusions on so-called text-emendations, which
invariably are text-debasings, I have applied these strophes
as they are found in the texts we have. Like Miillenhoff
(D. Alterth., v. 121) and other scholars, I am, however,
convinced that the strophe which begins sd hon thar vada,
&c., has been corrupted. Several reasons, which I shall
present elsewhere in a special treatise on Voluspa, make
this probable ; but simply the circumstance that the strophe
has ten lines is sufficient to awaken suspicions in anyone's
mind who holds the view that Voluspa originally con-
sisted of exclusively eight-lined strophes — a view which
cannot seriously be doubted. As we now have the poem, it
consists of forty-seven strophes of eight lines each, one
of four lines, two of six lines each, five of ten lines each,
four of twelve lines each, and two of fourteen lines each
— in all fourteen not eight-lined strophes against forty-
seven eight-lined ones ; and, while all the eight-lined ones
are intrinsically and logically well constructed, it may
be said of the others, that have more than eight lines
each, partly that we can cancel the superfluous lines with-
out injury to the sense, and partly that they look like
loosely- joined conglomerations of scattered fragments of
strophes and of interpolations. The most recent effort
540
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to restore perfectly the poem to its eight-lined strophes
has been made by Miillenhoff (D. Alterth., v.) ; and
although this effort may need revision in some special
points, it has upon the whole given the poem a clearness,
a logical sequence and symmetry, which of themselves
make it evident that MullenhofFs premises are correct.
In the treatise on Voluspa which I shall publish later,
this subject will be thoroughly discussed. Here I may
be permitted to say, that in my own efforts to restore
Voluspa to eight-lined strophes, I came to a point where
I had got the most of the materials arranged on this
principle, but there remained the following fragment :
(1) A fellr austan (1) Falls a river from the east
um eitrdala around venom dales
soxum ok sverdum. with daggers and spears,
Slidr heitir sii. Slid it is called.
(2) Sa hon thar vada (2) There saw she wade
thunga strauma through heavy streams
menn meinsvara perjurers
ok mordvarga murderers
ok thanns annars and him who seduces
glepr eyrarunu. another's wife,
These fragments make united ten lines. The fourth
line of the fragment (1) Slidr heitir su has the appear-
ance of being a mythographic addition by the transcriber
of the poem. Several similar interpolations which con-
tain information of mythological interest, but which nei-
ther have the slightest connection with the context, nor
are of the least importance in reference to the subject
treated in Voluspa, occur in our present text-editions of
54i
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
this poem. The dwarf-list is a colossal interpolation of
this kind. If we hypothetically omit this line for the
present, and also the one immediately preceding (soxum
ok sverdum), then there remains as many lines as are
required in a regular eight-line strophe.
It is further to be remarked that among all the eight-
lined Voluspa strophes there is not one so badly con-
structed that a verb in the first half -strophe has a direct
object in the first line of the second half-strophe, as is the
case in that of the present text :
Sa hon thar vada
thunga strauma
menn meinsvara
ok mordvarga
ok thann's annars glepr
eyrarunu;
and, upon the whole, such a construction can hardly
ever have occurred in a tolerably passable poem. If these
eight lines actually belonged to one and the same strophe,
the latter would have to be restored according to the fol-
lowing scheme :
(1) Sa hon thar vada
(2) thunga strauma
(3) menn meinsvara
(4) ok mordvarga;
(5)
(6) .
(7) thann's annars glepr
(8) eyrarunu.
and in one of the dotted lines the verb must have been
found which governed the accusative object thann.
542
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The lines which should take the place of the dots have,
in their present form, the following appearance:
a fellr austan
um eitrdala.
The verb which governed thann must then be dfellr,
that is to say, the verb fellr united with the preposition a.
But in that case a is not the substantive a, a river, a run-
ning water, and thus the river which falls from the east
around venom dales has its source in an error.
Thus we have, under this supposition, found that there
is something that fellr a, falls on, streams down upon,
him who seduces the wife of another. This something
must be expressed by a substantive, which is now con-
cealed behind the adverb austan, and must have resem-
bled it sufficiently in sound to be transformed into it.
Such a substantive, and the only one of the kind, is
austr. This means something that can folia a, stream
down upon; for austr is bail-water (from ausa, to bail),
waste-water, water flowing out of a gutter or shoot.
A test as to whether there originally stood austr or not
is to be found in the following substantive, which now
has the appearance of eitrdala. For if there was written
austr, then there must, in the original text, have followed
a substantive (1) which explained the kind of waste-
water meant, (2) which had sufficient resemblance to
eitrdala to become corrupted into it.
The sea-faring Norsman distinguished between two
kinds of austr: byttu-austr and d&lu-austr. The bail-
water in a ship could be removed either by bailing it out
543
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
with scoops directly over the railing, or it could be
scooped into a dala, a shoot or trough laid over the rail-
ing. The latter was the more convenient method. The
difference between these two kinds of austr became a
popular phrase; compare the expression thd var byttu-
austr, eigi d&lu-austr. The word dcela was also used
figuratively ; compare Idta daluna ganga, to let the shoots
(troughs) run (Gretla, 98), a proverb by which men in
animated conversation are likened unto dcelur, troughs,
which are opened for flowing conversation.
Under such circumstances we might here expect after
the word austr the word dala, and, as venom here is in
question, eitr-d&la.
Eitr-dala satisfies both the demands above made. It
explains what sort of waste-water is meant, and it re-
sembles eitr-dala sufficiently to be corrupted into it.
Thus we get d fellr austr eitrdala: "On (him who
seduces another man's wife) falls the waste-water of the
venom-troughs." Which these venom-troughs are, the
strophe in its entirety ought to define. This constitutes
the second test of the correctness of the reading.
It must be admitted that if d fellr austr eitrd&la is the
original reading, then a corruption into d fellr austan
eitrdala had almost of necessity to follow, since the prepo-
sition d was taken to be the substantive d, river, a running
stream. How near at hand such a confounding of these
words lies is demonstrated by another Voluspa strophe,
where the preposition d in d ser hon ausaz aurgom forsi
was long interpreted as the substantive d.
We shall now see whether the expression d fellr austr
544
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
eitrdcela makes sense, when it is introduced in lieu of the
dotted lines above:
Si hon thar vada
thunga strauma
menn meinsvara
ok mordvarga;
(en) a fellr austr
eitrdaela
thann's annars glepr
eyraruna.
"There saw she heavy streams (of venom) flow upon
(or through) perjurers and murderers. The waste-wa-
ter of the venom-troughs (that is, the waste-water of the
perjurers and murderers after the venom-streams had
rushed over them) falls upon him who seduces the wife
of another man."
Thus we get not only a connected idea, but a very re-
markable and instructive passage.
The verb vada is not used only about persons who wade
through a water. The water itself is also able to vada
(cp. eisandi udr vedr undan — Rafns S. Sveinb.), to say
nothing of arrows that wade i folk (Havam., 150), and
of banners which wade in the throng of warriors. Here
the venom wades through the crowds of perjurers and
murderers. The verb vada has so often been used in this
sense, that it has also acquired the meaning of rushing,
running, rushing through. Heavy venom-streams run
through the perjurers and murderers before they fall on
the adulterers. The former are the venom-troughs,
which pour their waste-water upon the latter.
We now return to Saxo's description of the hall of
545
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Nastrands, to see whether the Voluspa strophe thus hypo-
thetically restored corresponds with, or is contradicted by,
it. Disagreeable as the pictures are which we meet with
in this comparison, we arc nevertheless compelled to take
them into consideration.
Saxo says that the wall of the hall is bespattered with
liquid filth (paries obductus illuvie). The Latin word,
and the one used by Saxo for venom, is venenum, not
illwvies, which means filth that has been poured or bespat-
tered on something. Hence Saxo does not mean venom-
streams of the kind which, according to Voluspa, are
vomited by the serpents down through the roof-openings,
but the reference is to something else, which still must
have an upper source, since it is bespattered on the wall
of the hall.
Saxo further says that the floor is bespawled with all
sorts of impurity: pavimentum omni sordlum genere
respersum. The expression confirms the idea, that un-
mixed venom is not meant here, but everything else of
the most disgusting kind.
Furthermore, Saxo relates that groups of damned are
found there within, which groups he calls consessus.
Consessus means "a sitting together," and, in a second-
ary sense, persons sitting together. The word "sit" may
here be taken in a more or less literal sense. Consessor,
"the one who sits together with," might be applied to
every participator in a Roman dinner, though the Romans
did not actually sit, but reclined at the table.
As stated, several such consessus, persons sitting or
lying together, are found in the hall. The benches upon
546
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which they sit or lie are of iron. Every consessus has
a locus in the hall ; and as both these terms, consessus and
locus, in Saxo united in the expression consessuum loca,
together mean rows of benches in a theatre or in a public
place, where the seats rise in rows one above the other,
we must assume that these rows of the damned sitting or
lying together are found in different elevations between
the floor and ceiling. This assumption is corroborated
by what Saxo tells, viz., that their loca are separated by
leaden hurdles (plumbece crates). That they are sepa-
rated by hurdles must have some practical reason, and
this can be none other than that something flowing down
may have an unobstructed passage from one consessus to
the other. That which flows down finally reaches the
floor, and is then omne sordium genus, all kinds of im-
purity. It must finally be added that, according to Saxo,
the stench in this room of torture is well-nigh intolerable
(super omnia perpetui f&toris asperitas tristes lacessebat
olfactus) .
Who is not able to see that Voluspa's and Saxo's de-
scriptions of the hall in Nastrands confirm, explain, and
complement each other ? From Voluspa's words, we con-
clude that the venom-streams come from the openings in
the roof, not from the walls. The wall consists, in its
entirety, of the backs of serpents wattled together (sd er
undinn salr orma hryggjom). The heads belonging to
these serpents are above the roof, and vomit their venom
down through the roof-openings — "the Ijors" (fellu
eitrdropar inn um Ijora). Below these, and between
them and the floor, there are, as we have seen in Saxo,
547
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
rows of iron seats, the one row below the other, all fur-
nished with leaden hurdles, and on the iron seats sit or
lie perjurers and murderers, forced to drink the venom
raining down in "heavy streams." Every such row of
sinners becomes "a trough of venom" for the row im-
mediately below it, until the disgusting liquid thus pro-
duced falls on those who have seduced the dearest and
most confidential friends of others. These seducers either
constitute the lowest row of the seated delinquents, or
they wade on the floor in that filth and venom which there
flows. Over the hall broods eternal night (it is solu
fjarri) . What there is of light, illuminating the terrors,
comes from fires (see below) kindled at the doors which
open to the north (nordr horfa dyrr). The smoke from
the fires comes into the hall and covers the door-posts
with the "soot of ages" (pastes longceva fuligine illitce).
With this must be compared what Tacitus relates con-
cerning the views and customs of the Germans in regard
to crime and punishment. He says :
"The nature of the crime determines the punishment.
Traitors and deserters they hang on trees. Cowards and
those given to disgraceful debauchery they smother in
filthy pools and marshes, casting a hurdle (crates) over
them. The dissimilarity in these punishments indicates
a belief that crime should be punished in such a way that
the penalty is visible, while scandalous conduct should be
punished in such a way that the debauchee is removed
from the light of day" (Germania, xii.).
This passage in Germania is a commentary on Saxo's
descriptions, and on the Voluspa strophe in the form re-
548
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
suiting from my investigation. What might naturally
seem probable is corroborated by Germania's words : that
the same view of justice and morality, which obtained in
the camp of the Germans, found its expression, but in
gigantic exaggeration, in their doctrines concerning escha-
tological rewards and punishments. It should, perhaps,
also be remarked that a similar particularism prevailed
through centuries. The hurdle {crates} which Saxo
mentions as being placed over the venom- and filth-drink-
ing criminals in the hall of Nastrands has its earthly coun-
terpart in the hurdle (also called crates'), which, accord-
ing to the custom of the age of Tacitus, was thrown over
victims smothered in the cesspools and marshes (ignavos
et imbelles et corpore infames cceno ac palude injecta in-
super crate mergunt). Those who were sentenced to
this death were, according to Tacitus, cowards and de-
bauchees. Among those who received a similar punish-
ment in the Teutonic Gehenna were partly those who in
a secret manner had committed murder and tried to con-
ceal their crime (such were called nwrdvorgr}, partly de-
bauchees who had violated the sacredness of matrimony.
The descriptions in the Voluspa strophe and in Saxo show
that also in the hall of the Nastrands the punishment is
in accordance with the nature of the crime. All are pun-
ished terribly ; but there is a distinction between those who
had to drink the serpent venom unmixed and those who
receive the mixed potion, and finally those who get the
awful liquid over themselves and doubtless within them-
selves.
In closing this chapter I will quote a number of Voluspa
549
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
strophes, which refer to Teutonic eschatology. In par-
allel columns I print the strophes as they appear in Codex
Regius, and in the form they have assumed as the result
of an investigation of which I shall give a full account in
the future. I trust it will be found that the restoration
of a fellr austan um eitrdala into a fellr austr eitrdala,
and the introducing of these words before thanns annars
glepr eyraruna not only restores to the strophe in which
these words occur a regular structure and a sense which is
corroborated by Saxo's eschatological sources and by the
Germania of Tacitus, but also supplies the basis and condi-
tions on which other strophes may get a regular structure
and intelligible contents.
Codex Regius.
A fellr austan
um eitrdala
sauxom oc sverthom
slithr heitir su.
Stod fyr nordan
a nitha vollom
salr or gulli
sindra ettar.
enn annar stod
a okolni
bior salr iotuns
en sa brimir heitir.
Revised Text.
Stod fyr nordan
a Nida vollum
salr or gulli
Sindra aettar;
enn annar stod
a Okolni,
bjorsals jotuns,
en sa Brimir heitir.
Sal sa hon standa
solo fiarri
na strondu a
northr horfa dyrr
Sal sa hon standa
solu fjarri
Nastrondu a,
nordr horfa dyrr;
550
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fello eitr dropar
inn um liora
sa er undinn salr
orma hryggiom.
fellu eitrdropar
inn um Ijora,
sa er undinn salr
orma hryggjum.
(38) Sa hon thar vada
thunga strauma
menn meinsvara
oc mordvargar.
oc thann annars glepr
eyra runo
thar sug nithhauggr
nai fram gegna
sleit vargr vera
vitoth er en etha hvat.
Sa hon thar vada
thunga strauma
menn meinsvara
oc mordvarga;
en a fell austr
eitrdaela
thanns annars glepr
eyrarunu
(35) Hapt sa hon liggia
undir hvera lundi
legiarn lici
loca atheckian.
thar sitr Sigyn
theygi um sinom
ver velglyiod
vitoth er en etha hvat.
Hapt sa hon liggja
undir hveralundi
laegjarnliki
Loka athekkjan;
thar saug Nidhoggr
nai framgengna,
sleit vargr vera.
Vitud er enn eda hvat?
Thar kna Vala
vigbond snua,
heldr varn hardgor
hopt or
thormum;
thar sitr Sigyn
theygi um sinum
ver vel glygud.
Vitud er enn eda hvat?
551
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY.
78.
THE PEACES OF PUNISHMENT, (continued).
CAVE OF PUNISHMENT. GYLFAGINNING'S CON-
FOUNDING OF MUSPEI/S SONS WITH THE SONS OF
SUTTUNG.
Saxo (Hist. Dan., 429 ff.) relates that the experienced
Captain Thorkil made, at the command of King Gorm,
a second journey to the uttermost North, in order to com-
plete the knowledge which was gained on the first jour-
ney. That part of the lower world where Loke (by
Saxo called Ugartilocus) dwells had not then been seen.
iThis now remained to be done. Like the first time,
Thorkil sailed into that sea on which sun and stars never
shine, and he kept cruising so long in its darkness that his
supply of fuel gave out. The expedition was as a con-
sequence on the point of failing, when a fire was suddenly
seen in the distance. Thorkil then entered a boat with a
few of his men and rowed thither. In order to find his
way back to his ship in the darkness, he had placed in the
mast-top a self-luminous precious stone, which he had
taken with him on the journey. Guided by the light,
Thorkil came to a strand-rock, in which there were nar-
row "gaps" (fauces), out of which the light came.
There was also a door, and Thorkil entered, after request-
ing his men to remain outside.
Thorkil found a grotto. At the fire which was kindled
stood two uncommonly tall men, who kept mending the
fire. The grotto had an inner door or gate, and that
552
THE PUNISHMENT OF LOKE
•
is ma
-hment tlH-ri-..y
'•nt that <ln "'led venom up
1 irn from this tortt
captivity '1 held a bowl t<
-
•li other, i i <• hAtl
PLACES OF PUNISHMENT.
CAY i'UNISHMENT. C
POUNDING OF MUSPEI/S SO!
SUTTUNG.
Saxo (Hist. Dan., 429 ff.) relates that ,
Captain Tborkil made, at the command of K
to the uttermost North, in ord
few el if
way I5alj;
•<. ;' '", '
; found ',>.
.
va&
<
.-rnrjd. ifii'
•« Wi^
-•,v<^d(^i-
oh he had
the light,
were nar-
can
after TC
whk
> kept n^
or gate
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which was seen inside that gate is described by Saxo in
almost the same words as those of his former description
of the hall at the Nastrands (obsoleti pastes, ater situ
paries, sordidum tectum, frequens anguibus pavimen-
twm). Thorkil in reality sees the same hall again; he
had simply come to it from another side, from the north,
where the hall has its door opening toward the strand
(nordr horfa dyrr — Voluspa), the pillars of which, ac-
cording to Saxo's previous description, are covered with
the soot of ages. The soot is now explained by the fire
which is kindled in the grotto outside the hall, the grotto
forming as it were a vestibule. The two gigantic per-
sons who mend the fire are called by Saxo aquili.
In Marcianus Capella, who is Saxo's model in regard
to style and vocabulary, persons of semi-divine rank
(hemithei) are mentioned who are called aquili, and who
inhabit the same regions as the souls of the dead (lares
and larva — Marc. Cap., i., ii. Compare P. E. Miiller,
not, Hist. Dan., pp. 68, 69). Aquilus also has the sig-
nification, dark, swarthy, Icel. dokkr.
In the northern mythology a particular kind of elves
are mentioned — black or swarthy elves, dokkdlfar. They
dwell under the farthest root of the world-tree, near the
northern gate of the lower world (iormungrundar i iodyr
nyrdra), and have as their neighbours the Thurses and
the unhappy dead (ndir — Porspjallsljod, 25). Gylfa-
ginning also (ch. 17) knows of the swarthy elves, at least,
that they "dwell down in the earth" (bua nidri i jordu).
As to mythic rank, colour, and abode, they therefore cor-
respond with the Roman aquili, and Saxo has forcibly
553
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and very correctly employed this Latin word in order to
characterise them in an intelligible manner.
The two swarthy elves keeping watch outside of the
hall of Nastrands ought naturally to have been aston-
ished at seeing a living human being entering their grotto.
Saxo makes them receive the unexpected guest in a
friendly manner. They greet him, and, when they have
learned the purpose of his visit, one of them reproaches
him for the rash boldness of his undertaking, but gives
him information in regard to the way to Loke, and gives
him fire and fuel after he had tested Thorkil's under-
standing, and found him to be a wise man. The jour-
ney, says the swarthy elf, can be performed in four days'
fast sailing. As appears from the context, the journey
is to the east. The traveller then comes to a place where
not a blade of grass grows, and over which an even denser
darkness broods. The place includes several terrible
rocky halls, and in one of them Loke dwells.
On the fourth day Thorkil, favoured by a good wind,
comes to the goal of his journey. Through the darkness
a mass of rock rising from the sea (scopulum musitata
molis} is with difficulty discerned, and Thorkil lays to by
this rocky island. He and his men put on clothes of skin
of a kind that protects against venom, and then walk along
the beach at the foot of the rock until they find an en-
trance. Then they kindle a fire with flint stones, this
being an excellent protection against demons; they light
torches and crawl in through the narrow opening. Un-
fortunately Saxo gives but a scanty account of what they
saw there. First they came to a cave of torture, which
554
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
resembled the hall on the Nastrands, at least, in this par-
ticular, that there were many serpents and many iron seats
or iron benches of the kind described above. A brook
of sluggish water is crossed by wading. Another grotto
which is not described was passed through, whereupon
they entered Loke's awful prison. He lay there bound
hands and feet with immense chains. His hair and beard
resembled spears of horn, and had a terrible odour.
Thorkil jerked out a hair of his beard to take with him
as evidence of what he had seen. As he did this, there
was diffused in the cave a pestilential stench; and after
Thorkil's arrival home, it appeared that the beard-hair
he had taken home was dangerous to life on account of
its odour (Hist. Dan., 433). When Thorkil and his
men had passed out of the interior jurisdiction of the rock,
they were discovered by flying serpents which had their
home on the island (cp. Voluspa — thar saug Nidhoggr,
&c., No. 77). The skin clothes protected them against
the venom vomited forth. But one of the men who bared
his eyes became blind. Another, whose hand came out-
side of the protecting garments, got it cut off; and a
third, who ventured to uncover his head, got the latter
separated from his neck by the poison as by a sharp steel
instrument.
The poem or saga which was Saxo's authority for this
story must have described the rocky island where Loke
was put in chains as inhabited by many condemned be-
ings. There are at least three caves of torture, and in
one of them there are many iron benches. This is con-
firmed, as we shall see, by Voluspa.
14 555
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Saxo also says that there was a harbour. From Vol-
uspa we learn that when Ygdrasil trembles at the ap-
proach of Ragnarok, the ship of the dead, Nagelfar, lies
so that the liberated Loke can go aboard it. That it has
long lain moored in its harbour is evident from the fact
that, according to Voluspa, it then "becomes loose." Un-
known hands are its builders. The material out of which
it is constructed is the nail-parings of dead men (Gylfag.,
51 — probably according to some popular tradition). The
less regard for religion, the less respect for the dead. But
from each person who is left unburied, or is put into
his grave without being, when possible, washed, combed,
cleaned as to hands and feet, and so cared for that his ap-
pearance may be a favourable evidence to the judges at
the Thing of the dead in regard to his survivors — from
each such person comes building material for the death-
ship, which is to carry the hosts of world-destroyers to
the great conflict. Much building material is accumu-
lated in the last days — in the "dagger-and-axe age,"
when "men no longer respect each other" (Voluspa).
Nagelfar is the largest of all ships, larger than Skid-
bladner (Skidbladnir er beztr skipanna . . . en Naglfari
er mest skip — Gylfag., 43). This very fact shows that
it is to have a large number of persons on board when it
departs from L,oke's rocky island. Voluspa says:
Str. 47, 8. Naglfar losnar, Nagelfar becomes loose,
Str. 48. Kioll ferr austan, a ship comes from the east,
koma muno Muspellz the hosts of Muspel
um laug lydir, come o'er the main,
en Loki styrir; Loke is pilot;
fara Fifls megir all Fifel's descendants
556
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
med Freka alhr, come with Freke,
theim er brodir Byleipt's brother
Byleipts i for. is with them on the journey.
Here it is expressly stated that "the hosts of Muspel"
are on board the ship, Nagelfar, guided by Loke, after it
has been "freed from its moorings" and had set sail from
the island where Loke and other damned ones were im-
prisoned.
How can this be harmonised with the doctrine based
on the authority of Gylfaginning, that the sons of Muspel
are inhabitants of the southernmost region of light and
warmth, Gylfaginning's so-called Muspelheim? or with
the doctrine that Surt is the protector of the borders of
this realm? or that Muspel's sons proceed under his
command to the Ragnarok conflict, and that they conse-
quently must come from the South, which Voluspa also
seems to corroborate with the words Surtr ferr sunnan
med smga Icsiif
The answer is that the one statement cannot be har-
monised with the other, and the question then arises as to
which of the two authorities is the authentic one, the
heathen poem Voluspa or Gylfaginning, produced in the
thirteenth century by a man who had a vague conception
of the mythology of our ancestors. Even the most un-
critical partisan of Gylfaginning would certainly unhes-
itatingly decide in favour of Voluspa, provided we had
this poem handed down in its pure form from the heathen
days. But this is clearly not the case. We therefore
need a third witness to decide between the two. Such
an one is also actually to be found.
557
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
In the Norse heathen records the word muspell oc-
curs only twice, viz., in the above-mentioned Voluspa
strophe and in Lokasenna, 42, where Frey, who has sur-
rendered his sword of victory, is threatened by Loke with
the prospect of defeat and death — er Muspellz synir rida
Myrcmth yfir, "when Muspel's sons ride over Darkwood."
The Myrkwood is mentioned in Volundarkvida (1) as a
forest, through which the swan-maids coming from the
South flew into the wintry Ulfdales, where one chases
bears on skees (snow-shoes) to get food. This is evi-
dently not a forest situated near the primeval fountains
of heat and fire. The very arbitrary manner in which
the names of the mythical geography is used in the heroic
poems, where Myrkwood comes to the surface, does not
indicate that this forest was conceived as situated south
of Midgard, and there is, as shall be shown below, reason
for assuming that Darkwood is another name for the
Ironwood famous in mythology ; the wood which, accord-
ing to Voluspa, is situated in the East, and in which
Angerboda fosters the children of Loke and Fenrer.
One of these, and one of the worst, is the monster
Hate, the enemy of the moon mentioned in Voluspa as
tungls tiugari, that makes excursions from the Ironwood
and "stains the citadels of rulers with blood." In the
Ragnarok conflict Hate takes part and contends with Tyr
(Gylfag.), and, doubtless, not only he, but also the whole
offspring of the Fenris-wolf fostered in the Ironwood,
are on the battlefield in that division which is commanded
by Loke their clan-chief. This is also, doubtless, the
meaning of the following words in the Voluspa strophe
558
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
quoted above : "Fifel's descendants all come with Freke
(the wolf), and in company with them is Byleipt's (or
Byleist's) brother." As Loke, Byleipt, and Helblinde
are mentioned as brothers (Gylfag., 33), no one else can
be meant with "Byleipt's brother" than Loke himself or
Helblinde, and more probably the latter, since it has al-
ready been stated, that Loke is there as the commander
of the forces. Thus it is Muspel's sons and Loke's kins-
men in the Ironwood who are gathered around him when
the great conflict is at hand. Muspel's sons accompany
the liberated Loke from his rocky isle, and are with him
on board Nagelfar. Loke's first destination is the Iron-
wood, whither he goes to fetch Angerboda's children, and
thence the journey proceeds "over Myrkwood" to the
plain of Vigrid. The statements of Voluspa and Loka-
senna illustrate and corroborate each other, and it fol-
lows that Voluspa's statement, claiming that Muspel's
sons come from the East, is original and correct.
Gylfaginning treats Muspel as a place, a realm, the
original home of fire and heat (Gylfag., 5). Still, there
is a lack of positiveness, for the land in question is in the
same work called Muspellsheimr (ch. 5) and Muspells
heimr (ch. 8), whence we may presume that the author
regarded Muspell as meaning both the land of the fire
and the fire itself. The true etymology of Muspell was
probably as little known in the thirteenth century, when
Gylfaginning was written, as it is now. I shall not speak
of the several attempts made at conjecturing the defini-
tion of the word. They may all be regarded as abortive,
mainly, doubtless, for the reason that Gylfaginning's
559
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
statements have credulously been assumed as the basis
of the investigation. As a word inherited from heathen
times, it occurs under the forms mutspelli and muspilli
in the Old Saxon poem Heliand and in an Old High Ger-
man poem on the final judgment, and there it has the
meaning of the Lord's day, the doom of condemnation,
or the condemnation. Concerning the meaning which
the word had among the heathens of the North, before
the time of the authors of Voluspa and Lokasenna, all
that can be said with certainty is, that the word in the
expression "Muspel's sons" has had a special reference to
mythical beings who are to appear in Ragnarok fighting
there as Loke's allies, that is, on the side of the evil
against the good; that these beings were Loke's fellow-
prisoners on the rocky isle where he was chained; and
that they accompanied him from there on board Nagelfar
to war against the gods. As Gylfaginning makes them
accompany Surt coming from the South, this must be
the result of a confounding of "Muspel's sons" with
"Surfs (Suttung's) sons."
A closer examination ought to have shown that Gyl-
faginning's conception of "Muspel's sons" is immensely
at variance with the mythical. Under the influence of
Christian ideas they are transformed into a sort of angels
of light, who appear in Ragnarok to contend under the
command of Surt "to conquer all the idols" (sigra oil
godin — Gylfag. 4) and carry out the punishment of the
world. While Voluspa makes them come with Loke in
the ship Nagelfar, that is, from the terrible rocky isle
in the sea over which eternal darkness broods, and while
560
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Lokasenna makes them come across the Darkwood, whose
name does not suggest any region in the realm of light,
Gylfaginning tells us that they are celestial beings. Idols
and giants contend with each other on Vigrid's plains;
then the heavens are suddenly rent in twain, and out of it
ride in shining squadrons "Muspel's sons" and Surt, with
his flaming sword, at the head of the fylkings. Gylfagin-
ning is careful to keep these noble riders far away from
every contact with that mob which Loke leads to the field
of battle. It therefore expressly states that they form a
fylking by themselves (/ thessum gny Klofnar himininn,
ok ridu thadan Muspells synir; Surtr ridr fyrstr, &c.
. . . enn Mu-spells synir hafa einir ser fylking, er sd bjort
mjok — ch. 56). Thus they do not come to assist Loke,
but to put an end to both the idols and the mob of giants.
The old giant, Surt, who, according to a heathen skald,
Eyvind Skaldaspiller, dwells in sokkdalir, in mountain
grottoes deep under the earth (see about him-, No. 89), is
in Gylfaginning first made the keeper of the borders of
"Muspelheim," and then the chief of celestial hosts. But
this is not the end of his promotion. In the text found
in the Upsala Codex, Gylfaginning makes him lord in
Gimle, and likewise the king of eternal bliss. After
Ragnarok it is said, "there are many good abodes and
many bad;" best it is to be in Gimle with Surt {mar gar
ero vistar gothar og margar illar, best er at vera, a Gimle
medr surtr} . The name Surt means black. We find that
his dark looks did not prevent his promotion, and this has
been carried to such a point that a mythologist who hon-
estly believed in Gylfaginning saw in him the Almighty
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
who is to come after the regeneration to equalise and har-
monise all discord, and to found holy laws to prevail for
ever,
Under such circumstances, it may be suggested as a
rule of critical caution not to accept unconditionally Gyl-
faginning's statement that the world of light and heat
which existed before the creation of the world was called
Muspel or Muspelheim. In all probability, this is a
result of the author's own reflections. At all events, it is
certain that no other record has any knowledge of that
name. But that the mythology presumed the existence of
such a world follows already from the fact that Urd's
fountain, which gives the warmth of life to the world-
tree, must have had its deepest fountain there, just as
Hvergelmer has its in the world of primeval cold, and
Mimer has his fountain in that wisdom which unites the
opposites and makes them work together in a cosmic
world.
Accordingly, we must distinguish between Muspells
megir, Muspells synir, from Surt's clan-men, who are
called Surfs cett, synir Suttunga, Suttungs synir (Skirnis-
mal, 34; Alvissm., 35). We should also remember that
Muspell in connection with the words synir and megir
hardly can mean a land, a realm, a region. The figure
by which the inhabitants of a country are called its sons or
descendants never occurs, so far as I know, in the oldest
Norse literature.
In regard to the names of the points of the compass
in the poetic Edda, nordan and austan, it must not be for-
gotten that the same northern regions in the mythical
562
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
geography to which various events are referred must
have been regarded by the Icelanders as lying to the east
from their own northern isle. The Bjarmia ulterior, in
whose night-shrouded waters mythical adventurers sought
the gates to the lower world, lay in the uttermost North,
and might still, from an Icelandic and also from a Nor-
wegian standpoint, be designated as a land in the East.
According to the sagas preserved by Saxo, these adven-
turers sailed into the Arctic Ocean, past the Norwegian
coast, and eastward to a mythical Bjarmia, more distant
than the real Bjarmaland. They could thus come to the
coast where a gate to the lower world was to be found,
and to the Nastrands, and if they continued this same
course to the East, they could finally get to the rocky
isle where Loke lay chained.
We have seen that Loke is not alone with Sigyn on
that isle where in chains he abides Ragnarok. There
were unhappy beings in large numbers with him. As
already stated, Saxo speaks of three connected caves of
torture there, and the innermost one is Loke's. Of the
one nearest to it, Saxo tells nothing else than that one has
to wade across a brook or river in order to get there.
Of the bound Fenrer, Loke's son, it is said that from his
mouth runs froth which forms the river Von (Gylfag.,
34). In Lokasenna (34) Frey says to the abusive Loke:
"A wolf (that is, Fenrer) I see lying at the mouth of the
river until the forces of the world come in conflict; if
you do not hold your tongue, you, villain, will be chained
next to him" (thin ncest — an expression which here should
be taken in a local sense, as a definite place is mentioned
563
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in the preceding sentence). And as we learn from
Voluspa, that Freke (the wolf) is with Loke on board
Nagelfar, then these evidences go to show that Loke and
his son are chained in the same place. The isle where
Fenrer was chained is called in Gylfaginning Lyngvi, and
the body of water in which the isle is situated is called
Amsvartmr, a suitable name of the sea, over which eternal
darkness broods. On the isle, the probably Icelandic au-
thor of Voluspa (or its translator or compiler) has im-
agined a "grove," whose trees consist of jets of water
springing from hot fountains (hvero, lundr). The isle
is guarded by Garmr, a giant-dog, who is to bark with all
its might when the chains of Loke and Fenrer threaten
to burst asunder :
Geyr Garmr mjok
• fyr Gnipahelli
Festr man slitna,
en Freki renna.
According to Gtrimnersmal, Garm is the foremost of
all dogs. The dogs which guard the beautiful Menglad's
citadel are also called Garms (Fjolsvinnsmal). In Gyl-
faginning, the word is also used in regard to a wolf, Hate
Manegarm. Gnipahellir means the cave of the precipi-
tous rock. The adventurers which Thorkil and his men
encountered with the flying serpents, in connection with
the watching Hel-dog, show that Lyngve is the scene of
demons of the same kind as those which are found around
the Na-gates of Nifelheim.
Bound hands and feet with the entrails of a "frost-
cold son" (Lokasenna, 49), which, after being placed on
564
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
his limbs, are transformed into iron chains (Gylfag., 54),
Eioke lies on a weapon (a hiorvi — Lokasenna, 49), and
under him are three flat stones placed on edge, one under
his shoulders, one under his loins, and one under his hams
(Gylfag., 54). Over him Skade, who is to take revenge
for the murder of her father, suspends a serpent in such a
manner that the venom drops in the face of the nithing.
Sigyn, faithful to her wicked husband, sits sorrowing by
his side (Voluspa) and protects him as well as she is able
against the venom of the serpent (Postscript to Loka-
senna, Gylfag., 54). Fenrer is fettered by the soft, silk-
like chain Gleipner, made by the subterranean artist, and
brought from the lower world by Hermod. It is the
only chain that can hold him, and that cannot be broken
before Ragnarok. His jaws are kept wide open with a
sword (Gylfag., 35).
79.
THE GREAT WORLD-MILL. ITS MISTAKEN IDENTITY WITH
THE FRODE-MILL.
We have yet to mention a place in the lower world
which is of importance to the naive but, at the same time,
perspicuous and imaginative cosmology of Teutonic
heathendom. The myth in regard to the place in ques-
tion is lost, but it has left scattered traces and marks,
with the aid of which it is possible to restore its chief
outlines.
Poems, from the heathen time, speak of two wonderful
mills, a larger and a smaller "Grotte"-mill.
565
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The larger one is simply immense. The storms and
showers which lash the sides of the mountains and cause
their disintegration ; the breakers of the sea which attack
the rocks on the strands, make them hollow, and cast the
substance thus scooped out along the coast in the form
of sand-banks; the whirlpools and currents of the ocean,
and the still more powerful forces that were fancied by
antiquity, and which smouldered the more brittle layers
of the earth's solid crust, and scattered them as sand and
mould over "the stones of the hall," in order that the
ground might "be overgrown with green herbs" — all this
was symbolised by the larger Grotte-mill. And as all
symbols, in the same manner as the lightning which be-
comes Thor's hammer, in the mythology become epic-
pragmatic realities, so this symbol becomes to the imagin-
ation a real mill, which operates deep down in the sea and
causes the phenomena which it symbolises.
This greater mill was also called Grcedir, since its grist
is the mould in which vegetation grows. This name was
gradually transferred by the poets of the Christian age
from the mill, which was grinding beneath the sea, to
the sea itself.
The lesser Grotte-mill is like the greater one of heathen
origin — Egil Skallagrimson mentions it — but it plays a
more accidental part, and really belongs to the heroic
poems connected with the mythology. Meanwhile, it is
akin to the greater. Its stones come from the lower
world, and were cast up thence for amusement by young
giant-maids to the surface of the earth. A being called
Hengikjoptr (the feminine Hengikepta is the name of a
566
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
giantess — Sn. Edda, i. 551; ii. 471) makes mill-stones
put of these subterranean rocks, and presents the mill to
King Frode Fridleifson. Fate brings about that the same
young giantesses, having gone to Svithiod to help the
king warring there, Guthorm (see Nos. 38, 39), are taken
prisoners and sold as slaves to King Frode, who makes
them turn his Grotte-mill, the stones of which they recog-
nise from their childhood. The giantesses, whose names
are Fenja and Menja, grind on the mill gold and safety
for King Frode, and good-will among men for his king-
dom. But when Frode, hardened by greed for gold, re-
fuses them the necessary rest from their toils, they grind
fire and death upon him, and give the mill so great speed
that the mill-stone breaks into pieces, and the foundation
is crushed under its weight.
After the introduction of Christianity, the details of
the myth concerning the greater, the cosmological mill,
were forgotten, and there remained only the memory of
the existence of such a mill on the bottom of the sea.
The recollection of the lesser Grotte-mill was, on the
other hand, at least in part preserved as to its details in a
song which continued to flourish, and which was re-
corded in Skaldskaparmal.
Both mills were now regarded as identical, and there
sprang up a tradition which explained how they could
be so.
Contrary to the statements of the song, the tradition
narrates that the mill did not break into pieces, but stood
whole and perfect, when the curse of the giant-maids on
Frode was fulfilled. The night following tfie day when
567
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
they had begun to grind misfortune on Prode, there came
a sea-king, Mysing, and slew Frode, and took, among
other booty, also the Grotte-mill and both the female
slaves, and carried them on board his ship. Mysing
commanded them to grind salt, and this they continued
to do until the following midnight. Then they asked if
he had not got enough, but he commanded them to con-
tinue grinding, and so they did until the ship shortly af-
terwards sank. In this manner the tradition explained
how the mill came to stand on the bottom of the sea, and
there the mill that had belonged to Frode acquired the
qualities which originally had belonged to the vast Grotte-
mill of the mythology. Skaldskaparmal, which relates
this tradition as well as the song, without taking any
notice of the discrepancies between them, adds that after
Frode's mill had sunk, "there was produced a whirlpool
in the sea, caused by the waters running through the hole
in the mill-stone, and from that time the sea is salt."
80.
THE WORLD-MILL (continued}.
With distinct consciousness of its symbolic signifi-
cation, the greater mill is mentioned in a strophe by the
skald Snsebjorn (Skaldskap., ch. 25). The strophe ap-
pears to have belonged to a poem describing a voyage.
"It is said," we read in this strophe, "that Eyludr's nine
women violently turn the Grotte of the skerry dangerous
to man out near the edge of the earth, and that these
women long ground Amlode's /z
568
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Hvat kveda hrsera Grotta
hergrimmastan skerja
ut fyrir jardar skauti
Eyludrs niu brudir:
thaer er . . fyrir laungu
lid-meld .
Amloda molu.
To the epithet Eyludr, and to the meaning of lid-in
lid-grist, I shall return below. The strophe says that the
mill is in motion out on the edge of the earth, that nine
giant-maids turn it (for the lesser Grotte-mill two were
more than sufficient), that they had long ground with it,
that it belongs to a skerry very dangerous to seafaring
men, and that it produces a peculiar grist.
The same mill is suggested by an episode in Saxo,
where he relates the saga about the Danish prince,
Amlethus, who on account of circumstances in his home
was compelled to pretend to be insane. Young courtiers,
who accompanied him on a walk along the sea-strand,
showed him a sand-bank and said that it was meal. The
prince said he knew this to be so : he said it was "meal
from the mill of the storms" (Hist. Dan., 141).
The myth concerning the cosmic Grotte-mill was in-
timately connected partly with the myth concerning the
fate of Ymer and the other primeval giants, and partly
with that concerning Hvergelmer's fountain. Vafthrud-
nersmal (21) and Grimnersmal (40) tell us that the earth
was made out of Ymer's flesh, the rocks out of his bones,
and the sea from his blood. With earth is here meant,
as distinguished from rocks, the mould, the sand, which
569
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
cover the solid ground. Vafthrudnersmal calls Ymer
Aurgelmir, Claygelmer or Moldgelmer ; and Fjolsvinns-
mal gives him the epithet Leirbrimir, Claybrimer, which
suggests that his "flesh" was changed into the loose earth,
while his bones became rocks. Ymer's descendants, the
primeval giants, Thrudgelmer and Bergelmer perished
with him, and the "flesh" of their bodies cast into the
primeval sea also became mould. Of this we are as-
sured, so far as Bergelmer is concerned, by strophe 35 in
Vafthrudnersmal, which also informs us that Bergelmer
was laid under the mill-stone. The mill which ground
his "flesh" into mould can be none other than the one
grinding under the sea, that is, the cosmic Grotte-mill.
When Odin asks the wise giant Vafthrudner how far
back he can remember, and which is the oldest event of
which he has any knowledge from personal experience,
the giant answers: "Countless ages ere the earth was
shapen Bergelmer was born. The first thing I remem-
ber is when he a var ludr um lagidr."
This expression was misunderstood by the author of
Gylfaginning himself, and the misunderstanding has con-
tinued to develop into the theory that Bergelmer was
changed into a sort of Noah, who with his household
saved himself in an ark when Bur's sons drowned the
primeval giants in the blood of their progenitor. Of
such a counterpart to the Biblical account of Noah and
his ark our Teutonic mythical fragments have no knowl-
edge whatever.
The word ludr (with radical r) has two meanings:
(1) a wind-instrument, a loor, a war-trumpet; (2) the
570
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tier of beams, the underlying timbers of a mill, and, in
a wider sense, the mill itself.
The first meaning, that of war-trumpet, is not found
in the songs of the Elder Edda, and upon the whole does
not occur in the Old Norse poetry. Heimdal's war-
trumpet is not called ludr, but horn or hljod. Ludr in
this sense makes its first appearance in the sagas of Chris-
tian times, but is never used by the skalds. In spite of
this fact the signification may date back to heathen times.
But however this may be, ludr in Vafthrudnersmal does
not mean a war-trumpet. The poem can never have
meant that Bergelmer was laid on a musical instrument.
The other meaning remains to be discussed. Ludr,
partly in its more limited sense of the timbers or beams
under the mill, partly in the sense of the subterranean
mill in its entirety, and the place where it is found, occurs
several times in the poems: in the Grotte-song, in Helge
Hund. (ii. 2), and in the above-quoted strophe by Snse-
bjorn, and also in Grogalder and in Fjolsvinnsmal. If
this signification is applied to the passage in Vafthrud-
nersmal : a var ludr um lagidr, we get the meaning that
Bergelmer was "laid on a mill," and in fact no other
meaning of the passage is possible, unless an entirely new
signification is to be arbitrarily invented.
But however conspicuous this signification is, and how-
ever clear it is that it is the only one applicable in this
poem, still it has been overlooked or thrust aside by the
mythologists, and for this Gylfaginning is to blame. So
fas as I know, Vigfusson is the only one who (in his
Dictionary, p. 399) makes the passage a ludr lagidr mean
is i
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
what it actually means, and he remarks that the words
must "refer to some ancient lost myth."
The confusion begins, as stated, in Gylfaginning. Its
author has had no other authority for his statement than
the Vafthrudnersmal strophe in question, which he also,
cites to corroborate his own words ; and we have here one
of the many examples found in Gylfaginning showing
that its author has neglected to pay much attention to
what the passages quoted contain. When Gylfaginning
has stated that the frost-giants were drowned in Ymer's
blood, then comes its interpretation of the Vafthrudners-
mal strophe, which is as follows: "One escaped with
his household: him the giants call Bergelmer. He with
his wife betook himself upon his ludr and remained there,
and from them the races of giants are descended" (nemo,
einn komst undan med sinu hyski: thann kalla jotnar
Bergelmi; hann for upp a ludr sinn ok kona hans, ok
helzt thar, ok eru- af theim komnar} , &c.
What Gylfaginning's author has conceived by the ludr
which he mentions it is difficult to say. That he did not
have a boat in mind is in the meantime evident from the
expression : hann for upp a ludr sinn. It is more reason-
able to suppose that his idea was, that Bergelmer him-
self owned an immense mill, upon whose high timbers
he and his household climbed to save themselves from
the flood. That the original text says that Bergelmer was
laid on the timbers of the mill Gylfaginning pays no at-
tention to. To go upon something and to be laid on some-
thing are, however, very different notions.
An argument in favour of the wrong interpretation
572
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
was furnished by the Resenian edition of the Younger
Edda (Copenhagen, 1665). There we find the expres-
sion for upp d ludr sinn "amended" to for a bat sinn.
Thus Bergelmer faad secured a boat to sail in ; and al-
though more reliable editions of the Younger Edda
have ' been published since from which the boat
disappeared, still the mythologists have not had the
heart to take the boat away from Bergelmer. On the
contrary, they have allowed the boat to grow into a ship,
an ark.
As already pointed out, Vafthrudnersmal tells us ex-
pressly that Bergelmer, Aurgelmer's grandson, was "laid
on a mill" or "on the supporting timbers of a mill."
We may be sure that the myth would not have laid Ber-
gelmer on "a mill" if the intention was not that he was to
be ground. The kind of meal thus produced has already
been explained. It is the mould and sand which the sea
since time's earliest dawn has cast upon the shores of
Midgard, and with which the bays and strands have been
filled, to become sooner or later green fields. From
Ymer's flesh the gods created the oldest layer of soil, that
which covered the earth the .first time the sun shone
thereon, and in which the first herbs grew. Ever since
the same activity which then took place still continues.
After the great mill of the gods transformed the oldest
frost-giant into the dust of earth, it has continued to
grind the bodies of his descendants between the same
stones into the same kind of mould. This is the meaning
of Vafthrudner's words when he says that his memory
reaches back to the time when Bergelmer was laid on
573
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the mill to be ground. Ymer he does not remember, nor
Thrudgelmer, nor the days when these were changed to
earth. Of them he knows only by hearsay. But he re-
members when the turn came from Bergelmer's limbs to
be subjected to the same fate.
"The glorious Midgard" could not be created before
its foundations raised by the gods out of the sea were
changed to bjod (Voluspa). This is the word (origin-
ally bjodr) with which the author of Voluspa chose to
express the quality of the fields and the fields themselves,
which were raised out of the sea by Bor's sons, when the
great mill had changed the "flesh" of Ymer into mould.
Bjod does not mean a bare field or ground, but one that
can supply food. Thus it is used in Haustlaung (af
breidu bjodi, the place for a spread feast — Skaldskapar-
mal, ch. 22), and its other meanings (perhaps the more
original ones) are that of a board and of a table for food
to lie on. When the fields were raised out of Ymer's
blood they were covered with mould, so that, when they
got light and warmth from the sun, then the grund be-
came groin grosnum lauki. The very word mould comes
from the Teutonic word mala, to grind (cp. Eng. meal,
Latin molere). * The development of language and the
development of mythology have here, as in so many oth-
er instances, gone hand in hand.
That the "flesh" of the primeval giants could be ground
into fertile mould refers us to the primeval cow Aud-
humbla by whose milk Ymer was nourished and his flesh
formed (Gylfaginning). Thus the cow in the Teutonic
mythology is the same as she is in the Iranian, the pri-
574
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
meval source of fertility. The mould, out of which the
harvests grow, has by transformations developed out of
her nourishing liquids.
Here, then, we have the explanation of the lidmeldr
which the great mill grinds, according to Snaebjorn.
Lidmeldr means limb-grist. It is the limbs and joints
of the primeval giants, which on Amlode's mill are trans-
formed into meal.
In its character as an institution for the promotion of
fertility, and for rendering the fields fit for habitation,
the mill is under the care and protection of the Vans.
After Njord's son, Frey, had been fostered in Asgard
and had acquired the dignity of lord of the harvests, he
was the one who became the master of the great Grotte.
It is attended on his behalf by one of his servants, who
in the mythology is called Byggvir, a name related both
to byggja, settle, cultivate, and to bygg, barley, a kind of
grain, and by his kinswoman and helpmate Beyla. So
important is the calling of Bygver and Beyla that they
are permitted to attend the feasts of the gods with their
master (Frey). Consequently they are present at the
banquet to which JEgir, according to Lokasenna, in-
vited the gods. When Loke uninvited made his appear-
ance there to mix harm in the mead of the gods, and to
embitter their pleasure, and when he there taunts Frey,
Bygver becomes wroth on his master's behalf and says :
Str. 43. Veiztu, ef ec othli ettac Had I the ancestry
sem Ingunar-Freyr of Ingunar Frey
oc sva saelict setr, and so honoured a seat,
mergi smaera maul know I would grind you
tha ec
575
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tha meincraco finer than marrow, you evil
crow,
oc lemtha alia i litho. and crush you limb by limb.
Loke answers:
Str. 44. Hvat er that ith litla What little boy is that
er ec that lauggra sec whom I see wag his tail
oc snapvist snapir; and eat like a parasite?
att eyrom Freys Near Prey's ears
mundu ae vera always you are
oc und kvernom klaka. and clatter 'neath the mill-stone.
Bygver.
Str. 45. Beyggvir ec heiti, Bygver is my name,
enn mic brathan kveda All gods and men
god aull oc gumar: call me the nimble,
thvi em ec her hrodugr, and here it is my pride,
at drecca Hroptz megir that Odin's sons each
allir aul saman. and all drink ale.
Loke.
Str. 46. thegi thu, Beyggvir! Be silent, Bygver!
thu kunnir aldregi Ne'er were you able
deila meth monnom food to divide among men.
mat.
Beyla, too, gets her share of Loke's abuse. The least
disgraceful thing he says of her is that she is a deigia
(a slave, who has to work at the mill and in the kitchen),
and that she is covered with traces of her occupation in
dust and dirt.
As we see, Loke characterises Bygver as a servant
taking charge of the mill under Frey, and Bygver char-
acterises himself as one who grinds, and is able to crush
an "evil crow" limb by limb with his mill-stones. As
576
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the one who with his mill makes vegetation, and so also
bread and malt, possible, he boasts of it as his honour
that the gods are able to drink ale at a banquet. Loke
blames him because he is not able to divide the food
among men. The reproach implies that the distribution
of food is in his hands. The mould which comes from
the great mill gives different degrees of fertility to differ-
ent fields, and rewards abundantly or niggardly the toil
of the farmer. Loke doubtless alludes to this unequal
distribution, else it would be impossible to find any sense
in his words.
In the poetic Edda we still have another reminiscence
of the great mill which is located under the sea, and at
the same time in the lower world (see below), and which
"grinds mould into food." It is in a poem, whose skald
says that he has seen it on his journey in the lower world.
In his description of the "home of torture" in Hades,
Solarljod's Christian author has taken all his materials
from the heathen mythological conceptions of the worlds
of punishment, though the author treats these materials
in accordance with the Christian purpose of his song.
When the skald dies, he enters the Hades gates, crosses
bloody streams, sits for nine days a norna stoli, is there-
upon seated on a horse, and is permitted to make a jour-
ney through Mimer's domain, first to the regions of the
happy and then to those of the damned. In Mimer's
realm he sees the "stag of the sun" and Nide's (Mimer's)
sons, who "quaff the pure mead from Baugregin's well."
When he approached the borders of the world of the
damned, he heard a terrible din, which silenced the winds
577
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and stopped the flow of the waters. The mighty din
came from a mill. Its stones were wet with blood, but
the grist produced was mould, which was to be food.
Fickle-wise (svipvisar, heathen) women of dark complex-
ion turned the mill. Their bloody and tortured hearts
hung outside of their breasts. The mould which they
ground was to feed their husbands.
This mill, situated at the entrance of hell, is here rep-
resented as one of the agents of torture in the lower
world. To a certain extent this is correct even from a
heathen standpoint. It was the lot of slave-women to
turn the hand-mill. In the heroic poem the giant-maids
Fenja and Menja, taken prisoners and made slaves, have
to turn Frode's Grotte. In the mythology "Eylud's nine
women," thurse-maids, were compelled to keep this vast
mechanism in motion, and that this was regarded as a
heavy and compulsory task may be assumed without the
risk of being mistaken.
According to Solarljod, the mill-stones are stained
with blood. In the mythology they crush the bodies of
the first giants and revolve in Ymer's blood. It is also in
perfect harmony with the mythology that the meal be-
comes mould, and that the mould serves as food. But
the cosmic signification is obliterated in Solarljod, and it
seems to be the author's idea that men who have died
in their heathen belief are to eat the mould which women
who have died in heathendom industriously grind as food
for them
The myth about the greater Grotte, as already indi-
cated, has also been connected with the Hvergelmer
578
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
myth. Solarljod has correctly stated the location of the
mill on the border of the realm of torture. The mytho-
logy has located Hvergelmer's fountain there (see No.
59) ; and as this vast fountain is the mother of the ocean
and of all waters, and the ever open connection between
the waters of heaven, of the earth, and of the lower
world, then this furnishes the explanation of the appar-
ently conflicting statements, that the mill is situated
both in the lower world and at the same time on the bot-
tom of the sea. Of the mill it is said that it is danger-
ous to men, dangerous to fleets and to crews, and that it
causes the maelstrom (svelgr) when the water of the
ocean rushes down through the eye of the mill-stone.
The same was said of Hvergelmer, that causes ebb and
flood and maelstrom, when the water of the world al-
ternately flows into and out of this great source. To
judge from all this, the mill has been conceived as so
made that its foundation timbers stood on solid ground in
the lower world, and thence rose up into the sea, in which
the stones resting on this substructure were located. The
revolving "eye" of the mill-stone was directly above
Hvergelmer, and served as the channel through which
the water flowed to and from the great fountain of the
world's waters.
81.
THE WORLD-MILL (continued}. THE WORLD-MILL MAKES
THE CONSTELLATIONS REVOLVE. MUNDILFORI.
But the colossal mill in the ocean has also served other
579
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
purposes than that of grinding the nourishing mould
from the limbs of the primeval giants.
The Teutons, like all people of antiquity, and like most
men of the present time, regarded the earth as stationary.
And so, too, the lower world (jormurgrundr — For-
spjallsljod) on which the foundations of the earth rested.
Stationary was also that heaven in which the Asas had
their citadels, surrounded by a common wall, for the As-
gard-bridge, Bi frost, had a solid bridge-head on the
southern and another on the northern edge of the lower
world, and could not change position in its relation to
them. All this part of creation was held together by the
immovable roots 'of the world-tree, or rested on its invis-
ible branches. Sol and Mane had their fixed paths, the
points of departure and arrival of which were the "horse-
doors" (jodyrr}, which were hung on the eastern and
western mountain-walls of the lower world. The god
Mane and the goddess Sol were thought to traverse these
paths in shining chariots, and their daily journeys across
the heavens did not to our ancestors imply that any part
of the world-structure itself was in motion. Mane's
course lay below Asgard. When Thor in his thunder-
chariot descends to Jotunheim the path of Mane thun-
ders under him (en dundi Mdna vegr und Meila brodur
— Haustl., 1). No definite statement in our mythical
records informs us whether the way of the sun was over
or under Asgard.
But high above Asgard is the starry vault of heaven,
and to the Teutons as well as to other people that sky was
not only an optical but a real vault, which daily revolved
580
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
around a stationary point. Sol and Mane might be con-
ceived as traversing their appointed courses independ-
ently, and not as coming in contact with vaults, which by
their motions from east to west produced the progress of
sun and moon. The very circumstance that they con-
tinually changed position in their relation to each other
and to the stars seemed to prove that they proceeded in-
dependently in their own courses. With the countless
stars the case was different. They always keep at the
same distance and always present the same figures on
the canopy of the nocturnal heavens. They looked like
glistening heads of nails driven into a movable ceiling.
Hence the starlit sky was thought to be in motion. The
sailors and shepherds of the Teutons very well knew that
this revolving was round a fixed point, the polar star, and
it is probable that verddar nagli, the world-nail, the world-
spike, an expression preserved in Eddubrott, ii., designates
the north star.
Thus the starry sky was the movable part of the uni-
verse. And this motion is not of the same kind as that
of the winds, whose coming and direction no man can
predict or calculate. The motion of the starry firmament
is defined, always the same, always in the same direction,
and keeps equal step with the march of time itself. It
does not, therefore, depend on the accidental pleasure of
gods or other powers. On the other hand, it seems to be
caused by a mechanism operating evenly and regularly.
The mill was for a long time the only kind of mechan-
ism on a large scale known to the Teutons. Its motion
was a rotating one. The movable mill-stone was turned
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
by a handle or sweep which was called mondull. The
mill-stones and the mondull might be conceived as large
as you please. Fancy knew no other limits than those of
the universe.
There was another natural phenomenon, which also
was regular, and which was well known to the seamen
of the North and to those Teutons who lived on the
shores of the North Sea, namely, the rising and falling
of the tide. Did one and the same force produce both
these great phenomena? Did the same cause produce
the motion of the starry vault and the ebb and flood of
the sea? In regard to the latter phenomenon, we al-
ready know the naive explanation given in the myth con-
cerning Hvergelmer and the Grotte-mill. And the same
explanation sufficed for the former. There was no need
of another mechanism to make the heavens revolve, as
there was already one at hand, the influence of which
could be traced throughout that ocean in which Midgard
was simply an isle, and which around this island ex-
tends its surface even to the brink of heaven (Gylfagin-
ning).
The mythology knew a person by name Mundilfori
(Vafthr., 23; Gylfag.). The word mundill is related to
mondull, and is presumably only another form of the
same word. The name or epithet Mundilfore refers to
a being that has had something to do with a great myth-
ical mondull and with the movements of the mechanism
which this mondull kept in motion. Now the word
mondull is never used in the old Norse literature about
any other object than the sweep or handle with which
582
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the movable mill-stone is turned. (In this sense the
word occurs in the Grotte-song and in Helge Hund.
ii., 3, 4). Thus Mundilfore has had some part to play
in regard to the great giant-mill of the ocean and of the
lower world.
Of Mundilfore we learn, on the other hand, that he
is the father of the personal Sol and the personal Mane
(Valfthr. 23). This, again, shows that the mythology
conceived him as intimately associated with the heavens
and with the heavenly bodies. Vigfusson (Diet., 437)
has, therefore, with good reason remarked that mundill
in Mundilfore refers to the veering round or the revolu-
tion of the heavens. As the father of Sol and Mane,
Mundilfore was a being of divine rank, and as such be-
longed to the powers of the lower world, where Sol and
Mane have their abodes and resting-places. The latter
part of the name, fori, refers to the verb fcera, to conduct,
to move. Thus he is that power who has to take charge
of the revolutions of the starry vault of heaven, and these
must be produced by the great mondull, the mill-handle
or mill-sweep, since he is called Mundilfori.
The regular motion of the starry firmament and of the
sea is, accordingly, produced by the same vast mechan-
ism, the Grotte-mill, the meginverk of the heathen fancy
(Grotte-song, 11; cp. Egil Skallagrimson's way of us-
ing the word, Arnibj.-Drapa, 26). The handle extends
to the edge of the world, and the nine giantesses, who are
compelled to turn the mill, pushing the sweep before
them, march along the outer edge of the universe. Thus
we get an intelligible idea of what Snsebjorn means when
583
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
he says that Eylud's nine women turn the Grotte "along
the edge of the earth" (hrcera Grotta at fyrir jardar
skauti).
Mundilfore and Bygver thus each has his task to per-
form in connection with the same vast machinery. The
one attends to the regular motion of the mondull, the
other looks after the mill-stones and the grist.
In the name Eylud the first part is ey, and the second
part is ludr. The name means the "island-mill." Eylud's
nine women are the "nine women of the island-mill."
The mill is in the same strophe called skerja Grotti, the
Grotte of the skerry. These expressions refer to each
other and designate with different words the same idea —
the mill that grinds islands and skerries.
The fate which, according to the Grotte-song, hap-
pened to King Frode's mill has its origin in the myth
concerning the greater mill. The stooping position of
the starry heavens and the sloping path of the stars in
relation to the horizontal line was a problem which in
its way the mythology wanted to solve. The phenome-
non was put in connection with the mythic traditions in
regard to the terrible winter which visited the earth after
the gods and the sons of Alvalde (Ivalde) had become
enemies. Fenja and Menja were kinswomen of Al-
valde's sons. For they were brothers (half-brothers) of
those mountain giants who were Fenja's and Menja's
fathers (the Grotte-song). Before the feud broke out
between their kin and the gods, both the giant-maids had
worked in the service of the latter and for the good of
the world, grinding the blessings of the golden age on
584
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the world-mill. Their activity in connection with the
great mechanism, mondul, which they pushed, amid the
singing of bliss-bringing songs of sorcery, was a counter-
part of the activity of the sons of Alvalde, who made for
the gods the treasures of vegetation. When the con-
flict broke out the giant-maids joined the cause of their
kinsmen. They gave the world-mill so rapid a motion
that the foundations of the earth trembled, pieces of the
mill-stones were broken loose and thrown up into space,
and the sub-structure of the mill was damaged. This
could not happen without harm to the starry canopy of
heaven which rested thereon. The memory of this
mythic event comes to the surface in Rimbegla, which
states that toward the close of King Frode's reign there
arose a terrible disorder in nature — a storm with mighty
thundering passed over the country, the earth quaked
and cast up large stones. In the Grotte-song the same
event is mentioned as a "game" played by Fenja and
Menja, in which they cast up from the deep upon the
earth those stones which afterwards became the mill-
stones in the Grotte-mill. After that "game" the giant-
maids betook themselves to the earth and took part in
the first world-war on the side hostile to Odin (see No.
39). It is worthy of notice that the mythology has con-
nected the fimbul-winter and the great emigrations from
the North with an earthquake and a damage to the world-
mill which makes the starry heavens revolve.
585
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
82.
THE WORLD-MIU, (continued}. THE ORIGIN OE THE
SACRED EIRE THROUGH MUNDIIvEORE. HEIMDAI,
THE PERSONIFICATION OF THE SACRED EIRE. HIS
IDENTITY WITH RIGVEDA'S AGNI. HIS ANTITHESIS,
LOKE, ALSO A EIRE-BEING.
Among the tasks to be performed by the world-mill
there is yet another of the greatest importance. Ac-
cording to a belief which originated in ancient Aryan
times, a fire is to be judged as to purity and holiness by
its origin. There are different kinds of fire more or less
pure and holy, and a fire which is holy as to its origin
may become corrupted by contact with improper ele-
ments. The purest fire, that which was originally kin-
dled by the gods and was afterwards given to man as an
invaluable blessing, as a bond of union between the higher
world and mankind, was a fire which was produced by
rubbing two objects together (friction). In hundreds
of passages this is corroborated in Rigveda, and the be-
lief still exists among the common people of various Teu-
tonic peoples. The great mill which revolves the starry
heavens was also the mighty rubbing machine (friction
machine) from which the sacred fire naturally ought to
proceed, and really was regarded as having proceeded,
as shall be shown below.
The word mondull, with which the handle of the mill
is designated, is found among our ancient Aryan ances-
tors. It can be traced back to the ancient Teutonic man-
ihula, a swing-tree (Kick, Worterb d. ind.-germ. Spr.,
586
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
i\i. 232), related to Sanscr. Manthati, to swing, twist,
bore, from the root month, which occurs in numerous
passages in Rigveda, and in its direct application always
refers to the production of fire by friction (Bergaigne,
Rel. ved., iii. 7).
In Rigveda, the sacred fire is personified by the "pure,"
"upright," "benevolent" god Agni, whose very name,
related to the Latin ignis, designates the god of fire. Ac-
cording to Rigveda, there was a time when Agni lived
concealed from both gods and men, as the element of
light and warmth found in all beings and things. Then
there was a time when he dwelt in person among the
gods, but not yet among men; and, finally, there was a
time when Mataricvan, a sacred being and Agni's father
in a literal or symbolic sense, brought it about that Agni
came to our fathers (Rigv., i. 60, 1). The generation
of men then living was the race of Bhriguians, so-called
after an ancient patriarch Bhrigu. This Bhrigu, and with
him Manu (Manus), was the first person who, in his sac-
rifices to the gods, used the fire obtained through Agni
(Rigv., i. 31, 17, and other passages).
When, at the instigation of Mataricvan, Agni arrived
among mankind, he came from a far-off region (Rigv.,
i. 128, 2). The Bhriguians who did not yet possess the
fire, but were longing for it and were seeking for it
(Rigv., x. 40, 2), found the newly-arrived Agni, "at
the confluence of the waters." In a direct sense, "the
confluence of the waters" cannot mean anything else than
the ocean, into which all waters flow. Thus Agni came
from the distance across a sea to the coast of the country
16 587
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
where that people dwelt who were named after the pa-
triarch Bhrigu. When they met this messenger of the
gods (Rigv., viii. 19, 21), they adopted him and cared
for him at "the place of the water" (Rigv., ii. 4, 2).
Mataricvan, by whose directions Agni, "the one born on
the other side of the atmosphere" (x. 187, 5) was brought
to mankind, becomes in the classical Sanscrit language
a designation for the wind. Thus everything tends to
show that Agni has traversed a wide ocean, and has been
brought by the wind when he arrives at the coast where
the Bhriguians dwell. He is very young, and hence bears
the epithet yavishtha.
We are now to see why the gods sent him to men, and
what he does among them. He remains among those
who care for him, and dwells among them "an immortal
among mortals" (Rigv., viii. 60, 11; iii. 5, 3), a guest
among men, a companion of mortals (iv. 1, 9). He who
came with the inestimable gift of fire long remains per-
sonally among men, in order that "a wise one among
the ignorant" may educate them. He who "knows all
wisdom and all sciences" (Rigv., iii. 1, 17; x. 21, 5)
"came to be asked questions" (i. 60, 20) by men; he
teaches them and "they listen to him as to a father" (i.
68, 9). He becomes their first patriarch (ii. 10, 1) and
their first priest (v. 9, 4; x. 80, 4). Before that time
they had lived a nomadic life, but he taught them to es-
tablish fixed homes around the hearths, on which the
fire he had brought now was burning (iii. 1, 17). He
visited them in these fixed dwellings (iv. 1, 19), where
the Bhriguians now let the fire blaze (x. 122, 5) ; he
588
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
became "the husband of wives" (i. 66, 4) and the pro-
genitor of human descendants (i. 96, 2), through whom
he is the founder of the classes or "races" of men (vi.
48, 8). He established order in all human affairs (iv.
1, 2), taught religion, instructed men in praying and sac-
rificing (vi. 1, 1, and many other passages), initiated
them in the art of poetry and gave them inspiration (iii.
10, 5; x. 11, 6).
This is related of Agni when he came to the earth and
dwelt among men. As to his divine nature, he is the
pure, white god (iv. 1, 7; iii. 7, 1), young, strong, and
shining with golden teeth (v. 2, 2), and searching eyes
(iv. 2, 12) which can see far (vii. 1, 1), penetrate the
darkness of night (i. 94, 7), and watch the acts of de-
mons (x. 87, 12). He, the guard of order (i. 11, 8), is
always attentive (i. 31, 12), and protects the world by
day and by night from dangers (i. 98, 1). On a circular
path he observes all things (vii. 13, 3), and sees and
knows them all (x: 187, 4). He perceives everything,
being able to penetrate the herbs, and diffuse himself into
plants and animals (vii. 9, 3; viii. 43, 9; x. 1, 2). He
hears all who pray to him, and can make himself heard
as if he had the voice of thunder, so that both the halves
of the world re-echo his voice (x. 8, 1). His horses
are like himself white (vi. 6, 4). His symbol among
the animals is the bull (i. 31, 5; i. 146, 2).
In regard to Agni's birth, it is characteristic of him
that he is said to have several mothers, although their
number varies according to the point from which the
process of birth is regarded. When it is only to be a
589
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
figurative expression for the origin of the friction-fire,
the singer of the hymn can say that Agni had ten moth-
ers or two mothers. In the case of the former, it is the
ten fingers of the person producing the friction-fire that
are meant. Sometimes this is stated outright (Rigveda,
iii. 23, 3) ; then again the fingers are paraphrased by
"the twice five sisters dwelling together" (iv. 6, 8), "the
work-master's ten untiring maids" (i. 95, 1). In the
case of the latter — that is, when two mothers are men-
tioned— the two pieces of wood rubbed together are
meant (viii. 49, 15). In a more real sense he is said
to have three places of nativity: one in the atmospheric
sea, one in heaven, and one in the waters (i. 95, 3), and
that his "great, wise, divine nature proceeded from the
laps of many active mothers" (i. 95, 4), such as the
waters, the stones, the trees, the herbs (ii. 1,1). In
Rigveda (x. 45, 2) nine maternal wombs or births are
indicated; his "triple powers were sown in triplets in
heaven, among us, and in the waters." In Rigveda (i.
141, 2) three places of nativity and three births are as-
cribed to him, and in such a way that he had seven
mothers in his second birth. In Rigveda (x. 20, 7) he
is called the son of the rock.
It scarcely needs to be pointed out that all that is here
told about Agni corresponds point by point with the Teu-
tonic myth about Heimdal. Here, as in many other in-
stances, we find a similarity between the Teutonic and
the Aryan- Asiatic myths, which is surprising, when we
consider that the difference between the Rigveda and
Zend languages on the one hand, and the oldest Teu-
590
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tonic linguistic monuments on the other, appear in con-
nection with other circumstances to indicate that the old
Aryan unity of language and religion lies ages back in
antiquity. Agni's birth "beyond the atmosphere," his
journey across the sea to original man in the savage
state, his vocation as the sower of the blessings of cul-
ture among men, his appearance as the teacher of wisdom
and "the sciences," his visit to the farms established by
him, where he becomes "the husband of wives," father
of human sons, and the founder of "the races" (the
classes among the Teutons), — all this we rediscover com-
pletely in the Heimdal myth, as if it were a copy of the
Aryan-Asiatic saga concerning the divine founder of
culture; a copy fresh from the master's brush without
the effects of time, and without any retouching. The
very names of the ancient Aryan patriarchs, Bhrigu and
Manu are recognisable in the Teutonic patriarch names
Berchter and Mann (Mannus-Halfdan). In the case
of Manu and Mann no explanation is necessary. Here
the identity of sound agrees with the identity of origin.
The descendants of Bhrigu and of his contemporary
Bhriguians, are called Bhargavans, which corroborates
the conclusion that Bhrigu is derived from bharg "to
shine," whence is derived the ancient Teutonic berhta,
"bright," "clear," "light," the Old Saxon berht, the
Anglo-Saxon beorht, which reoccurs in the Teutonic
patriarch Berchter, which again is actually (not linguis-
tically) identical with the Norse Borgarr. By Bhrigu's
side stands Manu, just as Mann (Half dan) is co-ordi-
nate with Borgar.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Point by point the descriptions of Agni and Heimdal
also correspond in regard to their divine natures and at-
tributes. Agni is the great holy white god; Heimdal
is mikill and heilagr, and is called hviti ass (Younger
Edda) or "the whitest of the Asas" (Thrymskv., 15).
While Agni as the fire-god has golden teeth, Heimdal
certainly for the same reason bears the epithet gullin-
tanni, "the one with the golden teeth." Agni has white
horses. In Ulf Uggeson's poem about the work of art
in Hjardarholt, Heimdal rides his horse Gulltoppr, whose
name reflects its splendour. While Agni's searching
eyes can see in the distance and can penetrate the gloom of
night, it is said of Heimdal that hann ser jafnt nott sem
dag hundrad rasta fro, ser. While Agni perceives every-
thing, even the inaudible motions in the growing of herbs
and animals; while he penetrates and diffuses himself in
plants and animals, it is said of Heimdal that he heyrir
ok that, er gras vex a jordu eda ull a saudum. While
Agni — it is not stated by what means — is able to produce
a noise like thunder which re-echoes through both the
world-halves, Heimdal has the horn, whose sound all
the world shall hear, when Ragnarok is at hand. On a
"circular path," Agni observes the beings in the world.
Heimdal looks out upon the world from Bi frost. Agni
keeps his eye on the deeds of the demons, is perpetually
on the look-out, and protects the world by day and by
night from dangers; Heimdal is the watchman of the
gods vbrdr goda (Grimnersmal), needs in his vocation
as watchman less sleep than a bird, and faithfully guards
the Asa-bridge against the giants. Agni is born of sev-
592
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
eral mothers; Heimdal has mothers nine. Agni is "the
fast traveller," who, in the human abodes he visits, opens
a way for prayer and sacrifice (Rigv., vii. 13, 3) ; in
Rigsmal, Heimdal has the same epithet, "the fast trav-
eller," roskr Stigcmdi, as he goes from house to house
and teaches men the "runes of eternity" and "the runes
of time."
The only discrepancy is in the animal symbols by which
Angi and Heimdal are designated. The bull is Agni's
symbol, the ram is Heimdal's. Both symbols are chosen
from the domestic animals armed with horns, and the dif-
fernce is linguistically of such a kind, that it to some ex-
tent may be said to corroborate the evidence in regard to
Agni's and Heimdals identity. In the old Norse poetry,
Vedr (wether, ram), Heimdali and the Heimdal epithet
Hallinskidi, are synonymous. The word vedr, accord-
ing to Fick (Worterb., iii. 307), can be traced to an an-
cient Teutonic vethru, the real meaning of which is
"yearling," a young domestic animal in general, and it
is related to the Latin vitulus and the Sanscrit vatsala,
"calf." If this is correct, then we also see the lines along
which one originally common symbol of a domestic animal
developed into two and among the Rigveda Aryans set-
tled on the "yearling" of the cow, and among the Teu-
tons on that of the sheep. It should here be remarked
that according to Ammianus Marcellinus (xix. 1) the
tiara of the Persian kings was ornamented with a golden
ram's-head. That Agni's span of horses were trans-
formed into Heimdal's riding horse was also a result of
time and circumstances. In Rigveda, riding and cav-
593
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
airy are unknown ; there the horses of the gods draw the
divine chariots. In the Teutonic mythology the draught
horses are changed into riding horses, and chariots occur
only exceptionally.
We have reason to be surprised at finding that the
Aryan-Asiatic myths and the Teutonic have so broad sur-
faces of contact, on which not only the main outlines but
even the details completely resemble each other. But
the fact is not inexplicable. The hymns, the songs of
the divine worship and of the sacrifices of the Rigveda
Aryans, have been preserved, but the epic-mythological
poems are lost, so that there remains the difficult task of
reconstructing out of the former a clear and concise my-
thology, freed from "dissolving views" in which their
mythic characters now blend into each other. The Teu-
tonic mythology has had an opposite fate : here the gen-
uine religious songs, the hymns of divine worship and of
sacrifices, are lost, and there remain fragments of the
mighty divine epic of the Teutons. But thus we have
also been robbed of the opportunity of studying those very
songs which in a higher degree than the epic are able to
preserve through countless centuries ancient mythical
traits ; for the hymns belong to the divine worship, pop-
ular customs are long-lived, and the sacred customs are
more conservative and more enduring than all others, if
they are not disturbed by revolutions in the domain of
faith. If an epithet of a god, e. g., "the fast traveller,"
has once become fixed by hymns and been repeated in the
divine service year after year, then, in spite of the grad-
ual transformation of the languages and the types of
594
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the race, it may be preserved through hundreds and thou-
sands of years. Details of this kind may in this manner
survive the ravages of time just as well as the great out-
lines of the mythology, and if there be a gradual change
as to signification, then this is caused by the change of
language, which may make an old expression unintelligi-
ble or give it another meaning based on the association
of ideas.
From all this I am forced to draw the conclusion that
Heimdal, like several other Teutonic gods — for example,
Odin' (Wbdan, Rigveda's Vata) — belongs to the ancient
Aryan age, and retained, even to the decay of the Teu-
tonic heathendom his ancient character as the personal
representative of the sacred fire, the fire produced by fric-
tion, and, in this connection, as the representative of the
oldest culture connected with the introduction of fire.
This also explains Heimdal's epithet Vindler, in Cod.
Reg. of the Younger Edda (i. 266, 608). The name is
a subform of vindill and comes from vinda, to twist or
turn, wind, to turn anything around rapidly. As the
epithet "the turner" is given to that god who brought
friction-fire (bore-fire) to man, and who is himself the
personification of this fire, then it must be synonymous
with "the borer."
A synonym of Heimdal's epithet Stigandi, "the trav-
eller," is Rati, "the traveller," from rata, "to travel," "to
move about." Very strangely, this verb (originally vrata,
Goth, vraton, to travel, make a journey) can be traced to
an ancient Teutonic word which meant to turn or twist,
or something of the sort (Pick, Worterb., iii. 294).
595
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
I
And, so far as the noun Rati is concerned, this significa-
tion has continued to flourish in the domain of mythology
after it long seems to have been extinct in the domain of
language. Havamal (106), Grimnersmal (32), and
Bragarsedur testify each in its own way that the mythical
name Rati was connected with a boring activity. In
Havamal "Rate's mouth" gnaws the tunnel through
which Odin, in the guise of an eagle, flies away with the
mead-treasure concealed in the "deep dales" at Fjalar's
under the roots of the world-tree. In the allegorical
Grimnersmal strophe it is "Rate's tooth" (Ratatoskr)
who lets the mead-drinking foe of the gods near the root
of the world-tree find out what the eagle in the top of the
world-tree (Odin) resolves and carries out in regard to
the same treasure. In Bragaraedur the name is given
to the gimlet itself which produced the connection be-
tween Odin's world and Fjalar's halls. The gimlet has
here received the name of the boring "traveller," of him
who is furnished with "golden teeth." Hence there are
good reasons for assuming that in the epic of the myth
it was Heimdal-Gullintanne himself whose fire-gimlet
helped Odin to fly away with his precious booty. In
Rigveda Agni plays the same part. The "tongue of
Agni" has the same task there as "Rate's mouth" in our
Norse records. The sacred mead of the liquids of nour-
ishment was concealed in the womb of the mountain with
the Dasyus, hostile to the world ; but Agni split the moun-
tain open with his tongue, his ray of light penetrated into
the darkness where the liquids of nourishment were pre-
served, and through him they were brought to the light
596
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of day, after Trita (in some passages of Rigveda iden-
tical with Vata) had slain a giant monster and found
the "cows of the son of the work-master" (cp. Rigveda,
v. 14, 4; viii. 61, 4-8 ; x. 8, 6-9). "The cows of the son
of the work-master" is a paraphrase for the saps of nour-
ishment. In the Teutonic mythology there is also "a son
of the work-master," who is robbed of the mead. Fjalar
is a son of Surt, whose character as, an ancient artist is
evident from what is stated in Nos. 53 and 89.
By friction Mataricvan brought Agni out of the mater-
nal wombs in which he was concealed as an embryo of
light and warmth. Heimdal was born to life in a similar
manner. His very place of nativity indicates this. His
mothers have their abodes vid jardar thraum (Hyndl.,
35) near the edge of the earth, on the outer rim of the
earth, and that is where they gave him life bdru thann
man vid jardar thraum). His mothers are giantesses
(iotna meyjar), and nine in number. We have already
found giantesses, nine in number, mentioned as having
their activity on the outer edge of the earth — namely,
those who with the mondull, the handle, turn the vast
friction-mechanism, the world^m}!! of Mundilfore. They
are the niu brudir of Eyludr, "the Isle-grinder" mentioned
by Snsebjorn (see above). These nine giant-maids, who
along the outer zone of the earth (fyrir jordar skauti)
push the mill's sweep before themselves and grind the
coasts of the islands, are the same nine giant-maids who
on the outer zone of the earth gave birth to Heimdal, the
god of the friction-fire. Hence one of Heimdal's moth-
ers is in Hyndluljod called Angeyja, "she who makes the
597
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
islands closer," and another one is called Eyrgjafa, "she
who gives sandbanks." Mundilfori, who is the father
of Sol and Mane, and has the care of the motions of the
starry heavens is accordingly also, though in another
sense, the father of Heimdal the pure, holy fire to whom
the glittering objects in the skies must naturally be re-
garded as akin.
In Hyndluljod (37) Heimdal's nine giant-mothers are
named : Gjdlp, Grelp, Eistla, Eyrgjafa, U If run, Angeyja,
Imdr, Atla, Jarnsaxa. The first two are daughters of the
fire-giant Geirrod (Younger Edda, i. 288). To fire refers
also Imdr, from im, embers. Two of the names, Angeyja
and Hyrgjafa, as already shown, indicate the occupation
of these giantesses in connection with the world-mill.
This is presumably also the case with Jarnsaxa, "she who
crushes the iron." The iron which our heathen fathers
worked was produced from the sea- and swamp-iron
mixed with sand and clay, and could therefore properly
be regarded as a grist of the world-mill.
Heimdal's antithesis in all respects, and therefore also
his constant opponent in the mythological epic, is Loke,
he too a fire-being, but representing another side of this
element. Natural agents such as fire, water, wind, cold,
heat, and thunder have in the Teutonic mythology a
double aspect. When they work in harmony, each within
the limits which are fixed by the welfare of the world and
the happiness of man, then they are sacred forces and
are represented by the gods. But when these limits are
transgressed, giants are at work, and the turbulent ele-
ments are represented by beings of giant-race. This is
598
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
also true of thunder, although it is the common view
among mythologists that it was regarded exclusively as
a product of Thor's activity. The genuine mythical con-
ception was, however, that the thunder which purifies the
atmosphere and fertilises the thirsty earth with showers
of rain, or strikes down the foes of Midgard, came from
Thor; while that which splinters the sacred trees, sets
fire to the woods and houses, and kills men that have not
offended the gods, came from the foes of the world. The
blaze-element (see No. 35) was not only in the posses-
sion of the gods, but also in that of the giants (Skirners-
mal), and the lightning did not proceed alone from
Mjolner, but was also found in Hrungner's hein and in
Geirrod's glowing javelin. The conflicts between Thor
and the giants were not only on terra firma, as when Thor
made an expedition on foot to Jotunheim, but also in
the air. There were giant-horses that were able to wade
with force and speed through the atmosphere, as, for in-
stance, Hrungner's Gullfaxi (Younger Edda, i. 270),
and these giant-horses with their shining manes, doubt-
less, were expected to carry their riders to the lightning-
conflict ih space against the ligntning-hurler, Thor. The
thunder-storm was frequently a vig thrimu, a conflict be-
tween thundering beings, in which the lightnings hurled
by the ward of Midgard, the son of Hlodyn, crossed the
lightnings hurled by the foes of Midgard.
Loke and his brothers Helblindi and Byl-eistr are the
children of a giant of this kind, of a giant representing
the hurricane and thunder. The rain-torrents and wa-
terspouts of the Hurricane, which directly or indirectly
599
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
became wedded to the sea through the swollen streams,
gave birth to Helblinde, who, accordingly, received Ran
as his "maid" (Yngl., 51). The whirlwind in the hur-
ricane received as his ward Byleistr, whose name is com-
posed of bylr, "whirlwind," and eistr, "the one dwelling
in the east" (the north), a paraphrase for "giant." A
thunderbolt from the hurricane gave birth to Loke. His
father is called Farbauti, "the one inflicting harm," and
his mother is Laufey, "the leaf-isle," a paraphrase for the
tree-crown (Younger Edda, 104, 268). Thus Loke is
the son of the burning and destructive lightning, the son
of him who particularly inflicts damaging blows on the
sacred oaks (see No. 36) and sets fire to the groves.
But the violence of the father does not appear externally
in the son's character. He long prepares the conflagra-
tion of the world in secret, and not until he is put in chains
does he exhibit, by the earthquakes he produces, the wild
passion of his giant nature. As a fire-being, he was con-
ceived as handsome and youthful. From an ethical point
of view, the impurity of the flame which he represents
is manifested by his unrestrained sensuousness. After
he had been for ever exiled from the society of the gods
and had been fettered in his cave of torture, his exterior,
which was in the beginning beautiful, became trans-
formed into an expression of his intrinsic wickedness,
and his hair grew out in the form of horny spears (see
above). In this too he reveals himself as a counterpart
of Heimdal, whose helmet is ornamented with a glitter-
ing ram's horn.
600
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
83.
'S IDENTITY WITH I,ODUR.
The position which we have found Mundilfore to oc-
cupy indicates that, although not belonging to the pow-
ers dwelling in Asgard, he is one of the chief gods of the
Teutonic mythology. All natural phenomena, which ap-
pear to depend on a fixed mechanical law and not on the
initiative of any mighty will momentarily influencing the
events of the world, seem to have been referred to his
care. The mythology of the Teutons, like that of the
Rigveda-Aryans, has had gods of both kinds — gods who
particularly represent that order in the physical and moral
world which became fixed in creation, and which, under
normal conditions, remain entirely uniform, and gods who
particularly represent the powerful temporary interfer-
ence for the purpose of restoring this order when it has
been disturbed, and for the purpose of giving protection
and defence to their worshippers in times of trouble and
danger. The latter are in their very nature war-gods
always ready for battle, such ^s Vita and Indra in Rig-
veda, Odin and Thor-Indride in the Eddas ; and they have
their proper abode in a group of fortified celestial cita-
dels like Asgard, whence they have their out-look upon
the world they have to protect — the atmosphere and Mid-
gard. The former, on the other hand, have their natural
abode in Jormungrund's outer zone and in the lower
world, whence the world-tree grew, and where the foun-
tains are found whose liquids penetrate creation, and
where that wisdom had its source of which Odin only,
601
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
by self-sacrifice, secured a part. Down there dwell, ac-
cordingly, Urd and Mimer, Nat and Dag, Mundilfore
with the discs of the sun and the moon, Delling, the
genius of the glow of dawn, and Billing, the genius of
the blushing sunset. There dwell the smiths of antiquity
who made the chariots of the sun and moon and smithied
the treasures of vegetation. There dwell the nidjar who
represent the moon's waxing and waning ; there the seven
sons of Mimer who represent the changing seasons (see
No. 87). Mundilfore is the lord of the regular revolu-
tions of the starry firmament, and of the regular rising
and sinking of the sea in its ebb and flood. He is the
father of the discs of the sun and moon, who make their
celestial journeys according to established laws; and,
finally, he is the origin of the holy fire; he is father of
Heimdal, who introduced among men a systematic life
in homes fixed and governed by laws. As the father of
Heimdal, the Vana-god, Mundilfore is himself a Vana-
god, belonging to the oldest branch of this race, and in
all probability one of those "wise rulers" who, accord-
ing to Vafthrudnersmal, "created Njord in Vanaheim
and sent him as a hostage to the gods (the Asas)."
Whence came the clans of the Vans and the Elves?
It should not have escaped the notice of the mythologists
that the Teutonic theogony, as far as it is known, men-
tions only two progenitors of the mythological races —
Ymer and Bure. From Ymer develop the two very dif-
ferent races of giants, the offspring of his arms and that
of his feet (see No. 86) — in other words, the noble race
to which the norns Mimer and Beistla belong, and the
602
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ignoble, which begins with Thrudgelmer. Sure gives
birth to Burr (Bor), and the latter has three sons — Odinn,
Vei (Ve}, and Vili (Vilir). Unless Bure had more sons,
the Van- and Elf-clans have no other theogonic source
than the same as the Asa-clan, namely, Burr. That the
hierologists of the Teutonic mythology did not leave the
origin of these clans unexplained we are assured by the
very existence of a Teutonic theogony, together with the
circumstance that the more thoroughly our mythology
is studied the more clearly we see that this mythology has
desired to answer every question which could reasonably
be asked of it, and in the course of ages it developed
into a systematic and epic whole with clear outlines
sharply drawn in all details. To this must be added the
important observation that Vei and Vili, though brothers
of Odin, are never counted among the Asas proper, and
had no abode in Asgard. It is manifest that Odin him-
self with his sons founds the Asa-race, that, in other
words, he is a clan-founder in which this race has its
chieftain, and that his brothers', for this very reason,
could not be included in his clan. There is every reason
to assume that they, like him, were clan-founders; and as
we find besides the Asa-clan two other races of gods, this
of itself makes it probable that Odin's two brothers were
their progenitors and clan-chieftains.
Odin's brothers, like himself, had many names. When
Voluspa says that Odin, in the creation of man, was as-
sisted by Honer and Loder, and when the Younger
Edda (i. 52) says that, on this occasion, he was attended
by his brothers, who just before (i. 46) are called Ve
17 603
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and Vile, then these are only different names of the same
powers. Honer and Loder are Ve and Vile. It is a
mistake to believe that Odin's brothers were mythical
ghosts without characteristic qualities, and without promi-
nent parts in the mythological events after the creation
of the world and of man, in which we know they took
an active part (Voluspa, 4, 16, 17). The assumption
that this was the case depends simply upon the fact that
they have not been found mentioned among the Asas, and
that our records, when not investigated with proper thor-
oughness, and when the mythological synonymies have
not been carefully examined, seem to have so little to say
concerning them.
Danish genealogies, Saxo's included, which desire to
go further back in the genealogy of the Skjoldungs than
to Skjold, the eponym of the race, mention before him a
King Lotherus. There is no doubt that Lotherus, like
his descendants, Skjold, Half dan, and Hadding, is taken
from the mythology. But in our mythic records there is
only one name of which Lotherus can be a Latinised form,
and this name is, as Miiller (Nota ulterior ad Saxonis
Hist.} has already pointed out, Lodurr.
It has above been demonstrated (see Nos. 20, 21, 22)
that the anthropomorphous Vana-god Heimdal was by
Vana-gods sent as a child to the primeval Teutonic -coun-
try, to give to the descendants of Ask and Embla the holy
fire, tools, and implements, the runes, the laws of society,
and the rules for religious worship. It has been demon-
strated that, as an anthropomorphous god and first pa-
triarch, he is identical with Scef-Rig, the Scyld of the
604
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Beowulf poem, that he becomes the father of the other
original patriarch Skjold, and the grandfather of Half-
dan. It has likewise been demonstrated (No. 82) that
Heimdal, the personified sacred fire, is the son of the
fire-producer (by friction) Mundilfore, in the same man-
ner as Agni is the son of Matarigvan. From all this it
follows that when the authors of mythic genealogies re-
lated as history wish to get further back in the Skjoldung
genealogy than to the Beowulf Skjold, that is to say, fur-
ther back than to the original patriarch Heimdal, then
they must go to that mythic person who is Heimdal's
father, that is to say, to Mundilfore, the fire-producer.
Mundilfore is the one who appears in the Latinised name
Lotherus. In other words, Mundilfore, the fire-pro-
ducer, is Lodurr. For the name Lodurr there is no other
rational explanation than that which Jacob Grimm, with-
out knowing his position in the epic of mythology, has
given, comparing the name with the verb lodern, "to
blaze." Lodurr is active in its signification, "he who
causes or produces the blaze," and thus refers to the ori-
gin of fire, particularly of the friction-fire and of the bore-
fire.
Further on (Nos. 90, 91, 92, 121, 123) I shall give an
account of the ward of the atmosphere, Gevarr (Nokkvi,
Nafr} , and demonstrate that he is identical with Mundil-
fore, the revolver of the starry firmament. All that
Saxo tells about Lotherus is explained by the character
of the latter as the chieftain of a Vana-clan, and by his
identity with Mundilfori-Gevarr. As a chieftain of the
Vans he was their leader when the war broke out between
605
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Asas on the one side, and the Vans and Elves on the
other. The banishment of Odin and the Asas by the
Vans causes Saxo to say that Lotherus banished from
the realm persons who were his equals in noble birth
(nobilitate pares}, and whom he regarded as competitors
in regard to the government. It is also stated that he took
the power from an elder brother, but spared his life, al-
though he robbed him of the sceptre. The brother here
referred to is not, however, Odin, but Hanir ( Vei). The
character of the one deposed is gentle and without any
greed for rule like that by which Honer is known. Saxo
says of him that he so patiently bore the injustice done
him that he seemed to be pleased therewith as with a
kindness received (cetemm injuries tarn patiens fuit, ut
honoris damno tanquam beneficio gratulari crederetur).
The reason why Honer, at the outbreak of the war with
the Asas, is deposed from his dignity as the ruler of Vana-
heim and is succeeded by Loder, is explained by the fact
that he, like Mimer, remained devoted to the cause of
Odin. In spite of the confused manner in which the
troubles between the Asas and Vans are presented in
Heimskringla, it still appears that, before the war be-
tween the Asas and Vans, Honer was the chief of the lat-
ter on account of an old agreement between the two god-
clans; that he then always submitted to the counsels of
the wise Mimer, Odin's friend; that Mimer lost his life
in the service of Odin, and that the Vans sent his head
to Odin; and, finally, that, at the outbreak of the feud
with the Asas and after the death of Mimer, they looked
upon Honer as unqualified to be their judge and leader.
606
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Thus Loder becomes after Honer the ruler of Vanaheim
and the chieftain of the Vans, while the Vans Njord,
Frey, and the Elf Ull, who had already been adopted in
Asgard, administer the affairs of the rest of the world.
To the mythical circumstance, that Honer lost his throne
and his power points also Voluspa, the poem restoring
to the gentle and patient Vana-god, after the regenera-
tion, the rights of which he had been robbed, thd knd
Hanir hlautvid kjosa (str. 60). "Then Honer becomes
able to choose the lot-wood," that is to say, he is permitted
to determine and indicate the fortunes of those con-
sulting the oracle; in other words, then he is again able
to exercise the rights of a god. In the Eddas, Honer
appears as Odin's companion on excursions from Asgard.
Skaldskaparmal, which does not seem to be aware that
Honer was Odin's brother, still is conscious that he was
intimately connected with him and calls him his sessi,
sinni, and mail (Younger Edda, i. £66). During the
war between Asas and Vans, Frigg espoused the cause
of the Vans (see No. 36) ; hence Loke's insulting words
to her (Lokasenna, 26), and/ the tradition in Heim-
skringla (Yngl., 3), that Vifir and Vei took Frigg to
themselves once when Odin was far away from Asgard.
Saxo makes Lotherus fall at the hands of conspira-
tors. The explanation of this statement is to be sought
in Mundilfori-Gevarr's fate, of which, see Nos. 91, 123.
Mundilfore's character seems at least in one respect
to be the opposite of Honer's. Gylfaginning speaks of
his ofdrambi, his pride, founded, according to this record,
on the beauty of his children. Saxo mentions the in-
607
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
solentia of Lotherus, and one of his surnames was Dulsi,
the proud. See No. 89, where a strophe is quoted, in
which the founder of the Swedish Skilfing race (the
Ynglings) is called Dulsa knor, Dulse's descendant. As
was shown above in the account of the myth about Scef,
the Skjoldings, too, are Skilfings. Both these branches
of the race have a common origin ; and as the genealogy
of the Skjoldungs can be traced back to Heimdal, and be-
yond him to Mundilfore, it must be this personality who
is mentioned for his ofdrambi, that bears the surname
Dulsi.
With Odin, Vei-Honer and ViU-Lodurr-MundU-
fori have participated in the shaping of the world as well
as in the creation of man. Of the part they took in the
latter act, and of the importance they thereby acquired in
the mythical anthropology, and especially in the concep-
tions concerning the continued creation of man by gener-
ation and birth, see No. 95.
84.
NAT, THE MOTHER OF THE GODS.
•
It has already been shown above that Nat, the mother
of the gods, has her hall in the northern part of Mimer's
realm, below the southern slopes of the Nida mountains.
There has been, and still is, an interpretation of the
myths as symbols. Light is regarded as the symbol of
moral goodness, and darkness as that of moral evil. That
there is something psychologically correct in this cannot
be denied; but in regard to the Aryan religions the as-
608
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sumption would lead to a great error, if, as we might
be tempted to do, we should make night identical with
darkness, and should refer her to the world of evil. In
the mythologies of the Rigveda-Aryans and of the Teu-
tons, Nat is an awe-inspiring, adorable, noble, and bene-
ficent being. Night is said in Rigveda "to have a fair
face, to increase riches, and to be one of the mothers of
order." None of the phenemena of nature seemed to the
Teutons evil per se; only when they transgressed what
was thought to be their lawful limits, and thus produced
injury and harm, were giant-powers believed to be active
therein. Although the Teutonic gods are in a constant,
more or less violent conflict with the powers of frost,
still winter, when it observes its limits of time, is not an
evil but a good divinity, and the cold liquids of Hvergel-
mer mixed with those of Urd's and Mimer's fountains
are necessary to the world-tree. Still less could night be
referred to the domain of demons. Mother Nat never
transgresses the borders of her power; she never defies
the sacred laws, which are established for the order of
the universe. According to the/ seasons of the year, she
divides in an unvarying manner the twenty-four hours
between herself and day. Work and rest must alternate
with each other. Rich in blessing, night comes with
solace to the weary, and seeks if possible to sooth the
sufferer with a potion of slumber. Though sombre in
appearance (Gylfy., 10), still she is the friend of light.
She decorates herself with lunar effulgence and with
starry splendour, with winning twilight in midsummer,
and with the light of snow and of northern aurora in the
609
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
winter. The following lines in Sigrdrifumal (str., 3, 4)
sound like a reverberation from the lost liturgic hymns
of our heathendom.
Heill Dagr, Hail Dag,
heilir Dags synir, Hail Dag's sons,
heil Nott ok Nipt! Hail Nat and Nipt!
Oreithom augom Look down upon us
litith ocr thinig With benevolent eyes
oc gefit sitiondom regr! And give victory to the sitting!
Heilir sesir, Hail Asas,
heilar asynjor, Hail Asynjes,
heil sia in fiolnyta fold! Hail bounteous earth!
Of the Germans in the first century after Christ, Tac-
itus writes (Gerrn^., 3) : "They do not, as we, compute
time by days but by nights, night seems to lead the day"
(nee dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant:
nox ducere diem iridetur). This was applicable to the
Scandinavians as far down as a thousand years later.
Time was computed by nights not by days, and in the
phrases from heathen times, nott ok dagr, nott med degi
badi um noztr ok um daga, night is named before day.
Linguistic usage and mythology are here intimately as-
sociated with each other. According to Vafthrudners-
mal (25) and Gylfaginning (10), Nat bore with Belling
the son Dag, with whom she divided the administration
of the twenty-four hours. Delling is the elf of the morn-
ing red (see No. 35). The symbolism of nature is here
distinct as in all theogonies.
Through other divinities, Naglfari and Onarr (Anarr,
'Aunarr}, Nat is the mother with the former of Unnr
(Udr), also called Audr, with the latter of the goddess
610
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Jord, Odin's wife. Unnr means water, Audr means rich.
It has above been shown that Unnr-Audr is identical with
Njord, the lord of wealth and commerce, who in the lat-
ter capacity became the protector of navigators, and to
whom sacrifices were offered for a prosperous voyage.
Gods of all clans — Asas, Vans, and Elves — are thus akin
to Nat, and are descended from her.
85.
NARFij NAT'S FATHER, IDENTICAL WITH MIMER. A
PSEUDO-NAREI IN THE YOUNGER EDDA.
Nat herself is the daughter of a being whose name has
many forms.
Naurr, Norr (dative Naurvi, Norvi, Nott var Naurvi
borin — Vafthrudnersmal, 25 ; Nott. Naurvi
kenda — Alvism., 29).
Narfi, Narvi (niderfi Narfa — Egil Skallagr., 56, 2 ; Gyl-
fag., 10).
Norvi, Norvi (Gylfag., 10 ; kund Norm — Forspjallsl., 7).
Njorfi, Nj'drvi (Gylfag., 10; Wjorva nipt — Sonatorr.).
Nori (Gylfag., 10).
Nan (Hofudl., 10).
Neri (HelgeHund., 1).
All these variations are derived from the same original
appellation, related to the Old Norse verb njorva, the
Old English nearwian meaning "the one that binds," "the
one who puts on tight-fitting bonds."
611
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Simply the circumstance that Narvi is Nat's father
proves that he must have occupied one of the most con-
spicuous positions in the Teutonic cosmogony. In all
cosmogonies and theogonies night is one of the oldest
beings, older than light, without which it cannot be con-
ceived. Light is kindled in the darkness, thus forebod-
ing an important epoch in the development of the world
out of chaos. The being which is night's father must
therefore be counted among the oldest in the cosmogony.
The personified representatives of water and earth, like
the day, are the children of his daughter.
What Gylfaginning tells of Narve is that he was of
giant birth, and the first one who inhabited Jotunheim
(Norm eda Narfi het jotun, er bygdi fyrst Jotunkeima —
Gylfag., 10). In regard to this we must remember that,
in Gylfaginning and in the traditions of the Icelandic
sagas, the lower world is embraced in the term Jotunheim,
and this for mythical reasons, since Nifelheim is inhab-
ited by rimthurses and giants (see No. 60), and since
the regions of bliss are governed by Mimer and by the
norns, who also are of giant descent. As the father of
the lower-world dis, Nat, Narve himself belongs to that
group of powers, with which the mythology peopled
the lower world. The upper Jothunheim did not exist
before in a later epoch of the cosmogonic development.
It was created simultaneously with Midgard by Odin and
his brothers (Gylfaginning).
In a strophe by Egil Skallagrimson (ch. 56), poetry,
or the source of poetry, is called niderfi Narfa, "the inher-
itance left by Narve to his descendants." As is well
612
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
known, Mimer's fountain is the source of poetry. The
expression indicates that the first inhabitant of the lower
world, Narve, also presided over the precious fountain
of wisdom and inspiration, and that he died and left it to
his descendants as an inheritance.
Finally, we learn that Narve was a near kinsman to
Urd and her sisters. This appears from the following
passages :
(a) Helge Hundingsbane (1, 3, ff.). When Helge
was born norns came in the night to the abode of his
parents, twisted the threads of his fate, stretched them
from east to west, and fastened them beneath the hall of
the moon. One of the threads nipt Nera cast to the north
and bade it hold for ever. It is manifest that by Nere's
(Narve's) kinswoman is meant one of the norns present.
(&) Senator r. (str. 24). The skald Egil Skalla-
grimson, weary of life, closes his poem by saying that he
sees the dis of death standing on the ness (Digraness)
near the grave-mound which conceals the dust of his
father and of his sons, and is soon to receive him :
Tveggja baga The kinswoman of Njorve (the
/ binder)
Njorva nipt of Odin's (Tvegge's) foes
a nesi stendr. stands on the ness.
Skal ek tho gladr Then shall I be glad,
med godan vilja with a good will,
ok uhryggr and without remorse,
Heljar bida. wait for Hel.
It goes without saying that the skald means a dis of
death, Urd or one of her messengers, with the words,
"The kinswoman of Njorve (the binder) of Odin's foes,"
613
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
whom he with the eye of presentiment sees standing on
the family grave-mound on Digraness. She is not to
stop there, but she is to continue her way to his hall, to
bring him to the grave-mound. He awaits her coming
with gladness, and as the last line shows, she whose ar-
rival he awaits is Hel, the goddess of death or fate. It
has already been demonstrated that Hel in the heathen
records is always identical with Urd.
Njorve is here used both as a proper and a common
noun. "The kinswoman of the Njorve of Odin's foes"
means "the kinswoman of the binder of Odin's foes."
Odin's foe Fenrer was bound with an excellent chain
smithied in the lower world (dwarfs in Svartalfheimr —
Gylfag., 37), and as shall be shown later, there are more
,than one of Odin's foes who are bound with Narve's
chains (see No. 87).
(c) Hofudlausn (str. 10). Egil Skallagrimson cele-
brates in song a victory won by Erik Blood-axe, and says
of the battle-field that there trad nipt Nora ndttverd ara
("Nare's kinswoman trampled upon the supper of the
eagles," that is to say, upon the dead bodies of the fall-
en). The psychopomps of disease, of age, and of mis-
fortunes have nothing to do on a battle-field. Thither
come valkyries to fetch the elect. Nipt Nara must there-
fore be a valkyrie, whose horse tramples upon the heaps
of dead bodies ; and as Egil names only one shield-maid of
that kind, he doubtless has had the most representative,
the most important one in mind. That one is Skuld,
Urd's sister, and thus a nipt Nara like Urd herself.
Ynglingatal (Ynglingasaga, ch. 20). Of King
614
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Dygve, who died from disease, it is said that jodis Narva
(jodis Nora) chose him. The right to choose those who
die from disease belongs to the norns alone (see No.
69 ). Jodis, a word doubtless produced by a vowel change
from the Old Germanic idis, has already in olden times
been interpreted partly as horse-dis (from for, horse),
partly as the dis of one's kin (from jod, child, offspring).
In this case the skald has taken advantage of both signi-
fications. He calls the death-dis ulfs ok Narva jodis,
the wolf's horse-dis, Narve's kin-dis. In regard to the
former signification, it should be remembered that the
wolf is horse for all giantesses, the honoured norns not
excepted. Cp. grey norna as a paraphrase for wolf.
Thus what our mythic records tell us about Narve is :
(a) He is one of the oldest beings of theogony,
older than the upper part of the world constructed by
Bur's sons.
(&) He is of giant descent.
(c) He is father of Nat, father-in-law of Nagelfar,
Onar, and of Belling, the elf of the rosy dawn ; and he is
the father of Dag's mother, oiUnnr, and of the goddess
Jord, who becomes Odin's wife and Thor's mother.
Bonds of kinship thus connect him with the Asas and
with gods of other ranks.
(d) He is near akin to the dis of fate and death,
Urd and her sisters. The word nipt, with which Urd's
relation to him is indicated, may mean sister, daughter,
and sister's daughter, and consequently does not state
which particular one of these it is. It seems upon the
whole to have been applied well-nigh exclusively in regard
615
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to mythic persons, and particularly in regard to Urd and
her sisters (cp. above: Njdrva nipt, nipt Nara, nipt
Nera), so that it almost acquired the meaning of dis or
norn. This is evident from Skaldskaparmal, ch. 75 :
Nornir heita thcer er naud skapa; Nipt ok Dis nu eru
taldar, and from the expression Heil Nott ok Nipt in the
above-cited strophe from Sigrdrifumal. There is every
reason for assuming that the Nipt, which is here used as
a proper noun, in this sense means the dis of fate and as
an appellation of kinship, a kinswoman of Nat. The com-
mon interpretation of heil Nott ok Nipt is "hail Nat and
her daughter," and by her daughter is then meant the
goddess Jord; but this interpretation is, as Bugge has
shown, less probable, for the goddess Jord immediately
below gets her special greeting in the words : heil sia in
•fiolnyta Fold! ("hail the bounteous earth!")
(e) As the father of Nat, living in Mimer's realm,
and kinsman of Urd, who with Mimer divides the domin-
ion over the lower world, Narve is himself a being of the
lower world, and the oldest subterranean being; the first
one who inhabited Jotunheim.
(/) He presided over the subterranean fountain of
wisdom and inspiration, that is to say, Mimer's fountain.
(g) He was Odin's friend and the binder of Odin's
foes.
(h) He died and left his fountain as a heritage to
his descendants.
As our investigation progresses it will be found that
all these facts concerning Narve apply to Mimer, that
"he who thinks" (Mimer) and "he who binds" (Narve)
616
EFION AND KING GYLPHI
fore him in the
:ni4 with
'
. or in
Kn^lRt'r
as^HKld
which she
informed the four bulls int
dee<
'ii'lcet n»:
Til her
•ha. ' -'•••* hn 1
i's to ine^BsM
• e given
a d
1 \v
ri-'.\- ' hni 1; ..1 a imnrli !
. :ght, r«ii- -..L i ' ' "•'
i
tiy l^er magic s
ho
ttM|K <hc married Skjold
above :
it it almost acqi
norn. This is evident fror
Normr heita th&r er naud
tal dor, and from the expression h
2-cited strophe from Sigrdrifumal.
m for assuming that the Nipt, which
a proper ; .1^ J^«t«W5P%]*» <V
•
low
one
[J t-j/fajvorl?. .tiBv/ .
T in Mimet s realrn,
rjOflJiFJOlq 'J(!
.ffrdjjfjcksrtiw^ifi-
a -befog* vfetlii
He wa<
HP die
as a heritag
it will be fc
ve appl
"he wh<
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
are the same person. Already the circumstances that
Narve was an ancient being of giant descent, that he dwelt
in the lower world and was the possessor of the foun-
tain of wisdom there, that he was Odin's friend, and that
he died and left his fountain as an inheritance (cp. Mims
synir), point definitely to Narve's and Mimer' s identity.
Thus the Teutonic theogony has made Thought the older
kinsman of Fate, who through Nat bears Dag to the
world. The people of antiquity made their first steps
toward a philosophical view of the world in their the-
ogony.
The Old English language has preserved and trans-
ferred to the Christian Paradise a name which originally
belonged to the subterranean region of bliss of heathen-
dom— Neorxenavang. Vang means a meadow, plain,
field. The mysterious Neorxena looks like a genitive
plural. Grein, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, and be-
fore him Weinhold, refers neorxena to Narve, Nare, and
this without a suspicion that Narue was an epithet of
Mimer and referred to the l^ing of the heathen regions
of bliss. I consider this an evidence that Grein's assump-
tion is as correct as it is necessary, if upon the whole we
are to look for an etymological explanation of the word.
The plural genitive, then, means those who inhabit
Narve's regions of bliss, and receive their appellation from
this circumstance. The opposite Old Norse appellation
is njarir, a word which I shall discuss below.
To judge from certain passages in Christian writings
of the thirteenth century, Mimer was not alone about the
name Narve, Nare. One or two of Loke's sons are sup-
617
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
posed to have had the same name. The statements in
this regard demand investigation, and, as I think, this
will furnish another instructive contribution to the chap-
ter on the confusion of the mythic traditions, and on the
part that the Younger Edda plays in this respect. The
passages are:
(a) The prosaic afterword to Lokasennai: "He
(Loke) was bound with the entrails of his son Nari, but
his son Narfi was turned into a wolf."
' (b) Gylfaginning, ch. 33. (1) Most of the
codices: "His (Loke's) wife is hight Sygin; their son is
Nari or Narvi."
(2) Codex Hypnonesiensis: "His (Loke's) wife is
hight Sygin ; his sons are hight Nari or Narvi and Vali."
(c) Gylfaginning, ch. 50. (1) Most of the codices:
"Then were taken Loke's sons Vali and Nari or Narfi.
The Asas changed Vali into a wolf, and the latter tore
into pieces his brother Narfi. Then the Asas took his
entrails and therewith bound Loke."
(2) Codex Upsalensis: "Then were taken Loke's
sons Vali and Nari. The Asas changed Vali into a wolf,
and the latter tore into pieces his brother Nari."
(d) Skaldskaparmal, ch. 16. (1) "Loke is the
father of the wolf Fenrer, the Midgard-serpent, and Hel,
'and also of Nari and Ali.' ''
(2) Codex Wormianus and Codex Hypnonesiensis,
3 : "Loke is father of the Fenris-wolf , of the Midgard-
serpent, and of Hel, 'and also of Nari and Vali' "
The mythology has stated that Loke was bound with
chains which were originally entrails, and that he who
618
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
contributed the materials of these chains was his own
son, who was torn into pieces by his brother in wolf
guise. It is possible that there is something symbolic
in this myth — that it originated in the thought that the
forces created by evil contend with each other and destroy
their own parent. There is at least no reason for doubt-
ing that this account is a genuine myth, that is to say,
that it comes from a heathen source and from some
heathen poem.
But, in regard to the names of Loke's two sons here
in question, we have a perfect right to doubt.
We discover at once the contradictions betrayed by the
records in regard to them. The discrepancy of the state-
ments can best be shown by the following comparisons.
Besides Fenrer, the Midgard-serpent, and Hel, Loke has,
according to
Gylfaginning, 33 : the son Nari, also called Narft No other son is named ;
The Prose added to )
Lokasenna : i tne son Nan> and the son Narft
Co?^i^P1^'- (thesonNori, also called Narvi. and the son Vali :
V, VJryildrSM OOJ . )
Gylfaginning, ch. 50 : the son Nari, also called Narft and the son Vali ;
skchdsik6aFarmal> i the son Nari> and the son *«;
Nari> is torn into pieces by Narft;
Gylfaginning : Nari-Narfl is torn into pieces by Vali.
The discrepancy shows that the author of these state-
ments did not have any mythic song or mythic tradition
as the source of all these names of Loke's sons.
The matter becomes even more suspicious when we
find-
That the variations Nare and Narve, both of which
18 6l9
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
belong to one of the foremost and noblest of mythic be-
ings, namely, to Mimer, are here applied in such a man-
ner that they either are given to two sons of Loke or are
attributed to one and the same Loke-son, while in the lat-
ter case it happens —
That the names Vale and Ale, which both belong to
the same Asa-god and son of Odin who avenged the death
of his brother Balder, are both attributed to the other son
of Loke. Compare Gylfaginning, ch. 30: Vali eda Ali
heitir einn (Assin) sonr Odins ok Rindar.
How shall we explain this? Such an application of
these names must necessarily produce the suspicion of
some serious mistake; but we cannot assume that it was
made wilfully. The cause must be found somewhere.
It has already been demonstrated that, in the mythology,
Urd, the dis of fate, was also the dis of death and the ruler
of the lower world, and that the functions belonging to
her in this capacity were, in Christian times, transferred
to Loke's daughter, who, together with her functions,
usurped her name Hel. Loke's daughter and Hel be-
came to the Christian mythographers identical. -
An inevitable result was that such expressions as nipt
Nara, jodis Narfa, nipt Njorva, had to change mean-
ing. The nipt Njbrva, whom the aged Egil saw stand-
ing near the grave-mound on Digraness, and whose ar-
rival he awaited "with gladness and good-will," was no
longer the death-dis Urd, but became to the Christian
interpreters the abominable daughter of Loke who came
to fetch the old heathen. The nipt Nara, whose horse
trampled on the battle-field where Erik Blood-axe defeated
620
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Scots, was no longer Urd's sister, the valkyrie Skuld,
but became Loke's daughter, although, even according
to the Christian mythographers, the latter had nothing
to do on a battle-field. The jodis Narfa, who chose King
Dygve, was confounded with Loka mar, who had him
leikinn (see No. 67), but who, according to the heathen
conception, was a maid-servant of fate, without the right
of choosing. To the heathens nipt Nara, nipt Njorva,
jodis N,arfa, meant "Nare-Mimer's kinswoman Urd."
To the mythographers of the thirteenth century it must,
for the reason stated, have meant the Loke-daughter as
sister of a certain Nare or Narve. It follows that this
Nare or Narve ought to be a son of Loke, since his sis-
ter was Loke's daughter. It was known that Loke be-
sides Fenrer and the Midgard-serpent, had two other
sons, of which the one in the guise of a wolf tore the
other into pieces. In Nare, Narve, the name of one or
the names of both these Loke-sons were thought to have
been found.
The latter assumption was made by the author of the
prose in Lokasenna. He conceived Nare to be the one
brother and Narve the other. The author of Gylfagin-
ning, on the other hand, rightly regarded Nare and Narve
as simply variations of the same name, and accordingly
let them designate the same son of Loke. When he
wrote chapter 33, he did not know what name to give
to the other, and consequently omitted him entirely. But
when he got to the 50th chapter, a light had risen for
him in regard to the name of the other. And the light
doubtless came from the following strophe in Voluspa:
621
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tha kna vala
vigbond snua,
helldi voru hardgior
hoft or thormum.
This half strophe says that those were strong chains
(for Loke) that were made of entrails, and these fetters
were "twisted" from "Vale's vigbond!' Vig as a legal
term means a murder, slaughter. Vala ing was inter-
preted as a murder committed by Vale; and Vala vigbond
as the bonds or fetters obtained by the slaughter com-
mitted by Vale. It was known that Loke was chained
with the entrails of his son, and here it was thought to
appear that this son was slain by a certain Vale. And
as he was slain by a brother according to the myth, then
Vale must be the brother of the slain son of Loke. Ac-
cordingly chapter 50 of Gylfaginning could tell us what
chapter 33 did not yet know, namely, that the two sons
of Loke were named Vale and Nare or Narve, and that
Vale changed to a wolf, tore the brother "Nare or Narve"
into pieces.
The next step was taken by Skaldskaparmal, or more
probably by one of the transcribers of Skaldskaparmal.
As Vale and Ale in the mythology designated the same
person (viz., Balder's avenger, the son of Odin), the son
of Loke, changed into a wolf, "Vale" received as a gift
the name "Ale." It is by no means impossible that the
transcriber regarded Balder's avenger, Vale, and the son
of Loke as identical. The oldest manuscript we have of
Skaldskaparmal is the Upsala Codex, which is no older
than the beginning of the fourteenth century. The
622
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
m3"thic traditions were then in the continuation of that
rapid decay which had begun in the eleventh century, and
not long thereafter the Icelandic saga writings saw Val-
hal peopled by giants and all sorts of monsters, which
were called einherjes, and Thor himself transferred to
the places of torture where he drank venom from "the
auroch's horn," presented to him by the daughter of
L,oke.
In the interpretation of the above-cited half strophe
of Voluspa, we must therefore leave out the supposed son
of Loke, Vale. The Teutonic mythology, like the other
Aryan mythologies, applied many names and epithets to
the same person, but it seldom gave two or more persons
one and the same name, unless the latter was a patrony-
mic or, in other respects, of a general character. There
was not more than one Odin, one Thor, one Njord, one
Heimdal, one Loke, and there is no reason for assuming
that there was more than one Yale, namely, the divine
son of this name. Of Balder' s 'brother Vale we know
that he was born to avenge the slaying of Balder. His
impatience to do that which he was called to perform is
expressed in the mythology by the statement, that he lib-
erated himself from the womb of his mother before the
usual time (Baldrs brodir var af borinn snemma —
Voluspa), and only one night old he went to slay Hodr.
The bonds which confine the impatient one in his moth-
er's womb were his vigbond, the bonds which hindered
him from combat, and these bonds were in the most literal
sense of the word or thormum. As Loke's bonds are
made of the same material and destined to hinder him
623
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
from combat with the gods until Ragnarok, and as his
prison is in the womb of the earth, as Vale's was in that
of the earth-goddess Rind's, then Vala vigbond as a desig-
nation of Loke's chains is both logically and poetically
a satisfactory paraphrase, and the more in order as it
occurs in connection with the description of the impending
Ragnarok, when Loke by an earthquake is to sever his
fetters and hasten to the conflict.
86.
THE TWO GIANT CLANS DESCENDED FROM YMER.
In Havamal (140, ff.), Odin says that he in his youth
obtained nine fimbul-songs and a drink of the precious
mead dipped out of Odrerer from Beyzla's father, Bol-
thorn's famous son :
Fimbulliod nio
nam ec 'af enom fregia syni
Baulthorns Beyzlu faudur
oc ce dryc of gat
ens dyra miadar
ausinn Odreri.
The mythologists have assumed, for reasons that can-
not be doubted, that Bolthorn's famous son, Beistla's
brother, is identical with Mimer. No one else than he
presided at that time over the drink dipped out of Odrerer,
the fountain which conceals "wisdom and man's sense,"
and Sigrdrifumal (13, 14) corroborates that it was from
Mimer, and through a drink from "Hodrofner's horn,"
that Odin obtained wonderful runes and "true sayings."
624
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Accordingly Mimer had a sister by name Beyzla
(variations: Bestla, Besla, Bezla). A strophe by Einar
Skalaglam ( Skaldskaparmal, ch. 2; cp. Gylfag., ch. 6)
informs us that Beistla is Odin's mother. Mimer's dis-
ciple, the clan-chieftain of the gods, is accordingly his
sister's son. Herein we have one more reason for the
faithful friendship which Mimer always showed to Odin.
The Mimer epithet Narfi, Narve, means, as shown
above, "the one who binds." His daughter Nat is called
draumnjomn, the dream-binder (Alvism., 31). His
kinswomen, the norns, spin and bind the threads and
bonds, which, extended throughout the world, weave to-
gether the web of events. Such threads and bonds are
called orlogthozttir (Helge Hund., i. 3), and Urdar lokur
(Grogaldr., 7). As the nearest kinswomen of Beistla
all have epithets or tasks which refer to the idea of
binding, and when we add to this that Beistla's sons and
descendants as gods have the lepithet h'opt and bond, her
own name might most properly be referred to the old word
beizl, beisl (cp. betsel, bridle), which has a similar mean-
ing.
As Mimer and Beistla are of giant descent, and in the
theogony belong to the same stage of development as
Bur (Burr), Odin's father, then, as the mythologists also
have assumed, Bolthorn can be none else than Ymer.
Mimer, Beistla, the norns, and Nat thus form a group
of kindred beings, which belong to the oldest giant race,
but still they are most definitely separated from the other
descendants of Ymer, as a higher race of giants from a
lower, a noble giant race friendly to the gods and foster-
625
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ing the gods, from that race of deformed beings which
bear children in the strangest manner, which are hostile
to the gods and to the world, and which are represented
by the rimthurses Thrudgelmer and Bergelmer and their
offspring.
It now lies near at hand to inquire whether the my-
thology which attributed the same father to Mimer and
Thrudgelmer was unable to conceive in this connection
the idea of a nobler origin for the former than the latter.
The remedy nearest at hand would have been to have
given them mothers of different characters. But the
mythology did not resort to this expedient. It is ex-
pressly stated that Ymer bore children without the pleas-
ure of woman (gygiar gaman> — Vafthrudnersmal, 32 ; cp.
No. 60). Neither Mimer nor Thrudgelmer had a mother.
Under such circumstances there is another expedient
to which the sister of the Teutonic mythology, the Rig-
veda mythology, has resorted, and which is explained in
the 90th hymn of book x. of Rigveda. The hymn in-
forms us in regard to a primeval giant Parusha, and this
myth is so similar to the Teutonic in regard to Ymer
that it must here be considered.
The primeval being Parusha was a giant monster as
large as the whole world, and even larger (lines 1-5).
The gods resolved to sacrifice him, that is to say, to slay
him for sacred purposes (1. 6), and from his limbs was
created the present world. From his navel was made the
atmosphere, from his head the canopy of heaven, from
his two feet the earth, from his heart the moon, from his
eye the sun, from his breath the wind, &c. His mouth
626
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
became the brahma (the priest), his arms became the
raj any a (the warrior), his thighs became the vaisya (the
third free caste), and from his feet arose the sudra (the
thrall, line 12).
The two fundamental ideas of the myth concerning
Parusha are:
(1) There was a primeval being who was not di-
vine. The gods slew him and created the material world
out of his limbs.
(2) This primeval being gave rise to other beings
of different ranks, and their rank corresponded with the
position of the giant's limbs from which they were
created.
Both these fundamental ideas reappear in the Teutonic
myth concerning Ymer. In regard to the former idea
we need only to quote what Vafthrudnersmal says in
strophe 21 :
Or Ymis holdi Of Ymer's flesh
var iord um scaupud, the world was shapen,
en or beinom bjorg, from his bones the rocks,
himinn or hausi the heavens from the head
ins hrimkalda iotuns, of the ice-cold giant,
enn or sveita sior. from his blood the sea.
In regard to the second fundamental idea, it is evident
from the Rigveda account that it is not there found in
its oldest form, but that, after the rise of four castes
among the Rigveda Aryans, it was changed, in order
to furnish an explanation of the origin of these castes
and make them at least as old as the present material
world. Far more original, and perfectly free from the
627
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
influence of social ideas, it appears in the Teutonic my-
thology, where the 33rd strophe of Vafthrudnersmal tes-
tifies concerning its character :
Undir hendi vaxa A son and a daughter
quatho hrimthursi are said to have been born to-
gether
mey oc maug saman; under the rimthurse's arm;
fotr vid foti gat foot begat with foot
ins froda iotuns the strange-headed son
serhaufdathan son. of the wise giant.
In perfect harmony with this Gylfaginning narrates:
"'Under Ymer's left arm grew forth a man and a woman,
and his one foot begat with the other a son. Thence
come (different) races."
The different races have this in common, that they are
giant races, since they spring from Ymer ; but these giant
races must at the same time have been widely different
intellectually and physically, since the mythology gives
them different origins from different limbs of the pro-
genitor. And here, as in Rigveda, it is clear that the
lowest race was conceived as proceeding from the feet
of the primeval giant. This is stated with sufficient
distinctness in Vafthrudnersmal, where we read that a
"strangely-headed" monster (Thrudgelmer — see No. 60)
was born by them, while "man and maid" were born un-
der the arm of the giant. "The man" and "the maid"
must therefore represent a noble race sprung from
Ymer, and they can only be Mimer and his sister, Odin's
mother. Mimer and his clan constitute a group of an-
cient powers, who watch over the fountains of the life of
the world and care for the perpetuation of the world-
628
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
tree. From them proceeded the oldest, fairest, and most
enduring parts of the creation. For the lower world
was put in order and had its sacred fountains and guar-
dians before Bur's sons created Midgard and Asgard.
Among them the world-tree grew up from its roots,
whose source no one knows (Havamal, 138). Among
them those forces are active which make the starry
firmament revolve on its axis, and from them come the
seasons and the divisions of time, for Nat and nidjar,
Mane and Sol, belong to Mimer's clan, and were in the
morning of creation named by the oldest "high holy
gods," and endowed with the vocation drom at telja
(Voluspa). From Mimer comes the first culture, for
in his fountain inspiration, spiritual power, man's wit
and wisdom, have their source, and around him as chief
stand gathered the artists of antiquity by whose hands all
things can be smithied into living and wonderful things.
Such a giant clan demands another origin than that of
the frost-giants and their offspring. As we learn from
Vafthrudnersmal that two giant races proceeded from
Ymer, the one from a part of his body which in a sym-
bolic sense is more noble than that from which the other
race sprang, and that the race born of his feet was the
ignoble one hostile to the gods, then the conclusion fol-
lows of necessity that "the man and maid" who were
born as twins under Ymer's arm became the founders
of that noble group of giants who are friendly to the gods,
and which confront us in the mythology of our fathers.
It has already been shown above (see No. 54) that Jima
(Yama) in the Asiatic- Aryan mythology corresponds to
629
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Mimer in the Teutonic. Jima is an epithet which means
twin. The one with whom Jima was born together was
a maid, Yami. The words in the quoted Vafthrudners-
mal strophe, undir hendi hrimthursi vaxa mey ok maug
saman, are evidence that the Germans also considered
Mimer and his sister as twins.
87.
THE IDENTITY OF MIMER AND NIDHAD OE THE VOLUND
SAGA.
The condition in which the traditions of the great
Volund (Way land) have come down to our time is one
of the many examples illustrating how, under the in-
fluences of a change of faith, a myth disrobes itself of
its purely mythical character and becomes a heroic saga.
The nature of the mythic traditions and songs is not
at once obliterated in the time of transition ; there remain
marks of their original nature in some or other of the
details as proof of what they have been. Thus that frag-
ment of a Volund saga, turned into an epic, which the
Old Norse literature has preserved for us in Volundar-
kvida, shows us that the artist who is the hero of the song
was originally conceived not as a son of man, but as a
member of the mythic race of elves which in Voluspa
is mentioned in connection with the Asas (hvat er tned
asom, hvat er med alfomf — str. 49). Volund is an elf-
prince (alfa visi, alfa Ijothi — Volund., str. 10, 13), and,
as shall be shown below, when we come to consider the
Volund myth exhaustively, he and his brothers and their
630
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mistresses have played parts of the very greatest im-
portance in the epic of Teutonic mythology. Under such
circumstances it follows that the other persons appearing
in Volundarkvida also were originally mythical char-
acters.
One of these is called Nidadr (Nidudr), king of Njares,
and I am now to investigate who this Nidadr was in the
mythology.
When Volund for the first time appears by this name
in the Elder Edda, he is sojourning in a distant country,
to which it is impossible to come without traversing the
Myrkwood forest famous in the mythology (see No. 78).
It is a snow-clad country, the home of bears and wolves.
Volund gets his subsistence by hunting on skees. The
Old English poem, "Deor the Scald's Complaint," con-
firms that this region was regarded as very cold (cp.
viniercealde vrcece}. In Volundarkvida it is called Wolf-
dales.
Volund stays here many years in company with his
two brothers and with three swan-maids, their mis-
tresses or wives, but finally alone. Volund passes the
time in smithying, until he is suddenly attacked by
Nidadr (Nidudr), "the Njara-king" (Volundarkv., 6),
who puts him in chains and robs him of two extraordi-
nary treasures — a sword and an arm-ring. Seven hun-
dred arm-rings hung in a string in Volund's hall; but
this one alone seemed to be worth more than all the rest,
and it alone was desired by Nidadr (str. 7, 8, 17).
Before Volund went to the Wolf dales, he had lived
with his people a happy life in a land abounding in gold
631
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(str. 14). Not voluntarily, but from dire necessity he
had exchanged his home for the distant wilderness of
the Wolfdales. "Deor the Scald's Complaint" says he
was an exile (V eland him- be vurman vreces can-node}.
A German saga of the middle ages, "Anhang des Helden-
buchs," confirms this statement. Wieland (Volund),
it is there said, "was a duke who was banished by two
giants, who took his land from him," whereupon "he
was stricken with poverty," and "became a smith." The
Volundarkvida does not have much to say about the rea-
son for his sojourn in the Wolfdales, but strophe 28 in-
forms us that, previous to his arrival there, he had suf-
fered an injustice, of which he speaks as the worst and
the most revenge-demanding which he, the unhappy and
revengeful man, ever experienced. But he has had no
opportunity of demanding satisfaction, when he finally
succeeds in getting free from Nidadr's chains. Who
those mythic persons are that have so cruelly insulted him
and filed his heart with unquenchable thirst for revenge
is not mentioned ; but in the very nature of the case those
persons from whose persecutions he has fled must have
been mightier than he, and as he himself is a chief in the
godlike clan of elves, his foes are naturally to be looked
for among the more powerful races of gods.
And as Volundarkvida pictures him as boundlessly and
recklessly revengeful, and makes him resort to his extra-
ordinary skill as a smith — a skill famous among all Teu-
tonic tribes — in the satisfaction which he demands of
Nidudr, there is no room for doubt that the many years
he spent in Wolfdales, he brooded on plans of revenge
632
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
against those who had most deeply insulted him, and that
he made use of his art to secure instruments for the car-
rying out of these plans. Of the glittering sword of
which Nidadr robbed him, Volund says (str. 18) that he
had applied his greatest skill in making it hard and keen.
The sword must, therefore, have been one of the most
excellent ones mentioned in the songs of Teutonic heath-
endom. Far down in the middle ages, the songs and
sagas were fond of attributing the best and most famous
swords wielded by their heroes to the skill of Volund.
In the myths turned by Saxo into history, there has
been mentioned a sword of a most remarkable kind, of
untold value (ingens premium}, and attended by success
in battle (belli fortuna comitaretur) . A hero whose
name Saxo Latinised into Hotherus (see Hist. Dan., p.
110) got into enmity with the Asa-gods, and the only
means with which he can hops to cope with them is the
possession of this sword. He also knows where to se-
cure it, and with its aid he succeeds in putting Thor him-
self and other gods to flight.
In order to get possession of this sword, Hotherus
had to make a journey which reminds us of the adven-
turous expeditions already described to Gudmund-Mi-
mer's domain, but with this difference, that he does not
need to go by sea along the coast of Norway in order to
get there, which circumstance is sufficiently explained by
the fact that, according to Saxo, Hotherus has his home
in Sweden. The regions which Hotherus has to traverse
are pathless, full of obstacles, and for the greater part
continually in the cold embrace of the severest frost.
633
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
They are traversed by mountain-ridges on which the
cold is terrible, and therefore they must be crossed as
rapidly as possible with the aid of "yoke-stags." The
sword is kept concealed in a specus, a subterranean cave,
and "mortals" can scarcely cross its threshold (haud facile
mortalibus patere posse). The being which is the ward
of the sword in this cave is by Saxo called Mimingus.
The question now is, whether the sword smithied by
Volund and the one fetched by Hotherus are identical
or not. The former is smithied in a winter-cold country
beyond Myrkwood, where the mythic Nidadr suddenly
appears, takes possession of it, and the purpose for which
it was made, judging from all circumstances, was that
Volund with its aid was to conquer the hated powers
which, stronger than he, the chief of elves, had com-
pelled him to take refuge to the Wolfdales. If these
powers were Asas or Vans, then it follows that Volund
must have thought himself able to give to his sword
qualities that could render it dangerous to the world of
gods, although the latter had Thor's hammer and other
subterranean weapons at their disposal. The sword cap-
tured by Hotherus is said to possess those very qualities
which we might look for in the Volund weapon, and the
regions he has to traverse in order to get possession of it
refer, by their cold and remoteness, to a land similar to
that where Nidadr surprises Volund, and takes from him
the dangerous sword.
As already stated, Nidad at the same time captured
an arm-ring of an extraordinary kind. If the saga about
Volund and his sword was connected with the saga-frag-
634
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ment turned into history by Saxo concerning Hotherus
and the sword, whose owner he becomes, then we might
reasonably expect that the precious arm-ring, too, should
appear in the latter saga. And we do find it there.
Mimingus, who guards the sword of victory, also guards
a wonderful arm-ring, and through Saxo we learn what
quality makes this particular arm-ring so precious, that
Nidad does not seem to care about the other seven hun-
dred which he finds in Volund's workshop. Saxo says:
Eidem (Mimingo) quoque armillam esse mira quadam
arcanaque virtute possessoris opes cwgere solitam. "In
the arm-ring there dwells a wonderful and mysterious
power, which increases the wealth of its possessor." In
other words, it is a smith's work, the rival of the ring
Draupner, from which eight similar rings drop every
ninth night. This explains why Volund's smithy contains
so many rings, that Nidad expresses his suspicious won-
derment (str. 13).
There are therefore strong reasons for assuming that
the sword and the ring, which Hotherus takes from
Mimingus, are the same sword and ring as Nidad be-
fore took from Volund, and that the saga, having de-
prived Volund of the opportunity of testing the quality of
the weapon himself in conflict with the gods, wanted to
indicate what it really amounted to in a contest with
Thor and his hammer by letting the sword came into the
hands of Hotherus, another foe of the Asas. As we
now find such articles as those captured by Nidad re-
appearing in the hands of a certain Mimingus, the ques-
tion arises whether Mimingus is Nidad himself or some
19
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
one of Nidad's subjects; for that they either are identi-
cal, or are in some way connected with each other, seems
to follow from the fact that the one is said to possess
what the other is said to have captured. Mimingus is a
Latinising of Mimingr, Mimungr, son or descendant of
Mimer.
Nidadr, Nidudr (both variations are found in Volun-
darkvida), has, on the other hand, his counterpart in the
Anglo-Saxon Nidhad. The king who in "Deor the
Scald's Complaint" fetters Volund bears this name, and
his daughter is called Beadohild, in Volundarkvida Bod-
vild. Previous investigators have already remarked that
Beadohild is a more original form than Bodvild, and
Nidhad than Nidudr, Nidadr. The name Nidhad is
composed of nid (neuter gender), the lower world, Hades,
and had, a being, person, forma, species. Nidhad literally
means the lower world being, the Hades being. Here-
with we also have his mythical character determined. A
mythical king, who is characterised as the being of the
lower world, must be a subterranean king. The mythic
records extant speak of the subterranean king Mimer
(the middle-age saga's Gudmund, king of the Glittering
Fields; see Nos. 45, 46), who rules over the realm of
the well of wisdom and has the dis of fate as his kins-
woman, the princess of the realm of Urd's fountain and
of the whole realm of death. While we thus find, on
the one hand, that it is a subterranean king who cap-
tures Volund's sword and arm-ring, we find, on the other
hand, that when Hotherus is about to secure the irresisti-
ble sword and the wealth-producing ring, he has to be-
636
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
take himself to the same winter-cold country, where all
the traditions here discussed (see Nos. 45-49) locate the
descent to Mimer's realm, and that he, through an en-
trance "scarcely approachable for mortals," must pro-
ceed into the bosom of the earth after he has subdued a
Mimingus, a son of Mimer. Mimer being the one who
took possession of the treasure, it is perfectly natural
that his son should be its keeper.
This also explains why Nidadr in Volundarkvida is
called the king of the Njares. A people called Njares
existed in the mythology, but not in reality. The only
explanation of the word is to be found in the Mimer
epithet, which we discovered in the variations Narve,
Njorve, Nare, Nere, which means "he who binds." They
are called Njares, because they belong to the clan of
Njorvi-Nare.
Volundarkvida (str. 19, with the following prose addi-
tion) makes Nidad's queen command Volund's knee-
sinews to be cut. Of such a cruelty the older poem,
"Deor the Skald's Complaint," knows nothing. This
poem relates, on the other hand, that Nidad bound Volund
with a fetter made from a strong sinew:
siththan hinne Nidhad on
nede legde
sveoncre seono-bende.
Though Volund is in the highest degree skilful, he is
not able to free himself from these bonds. They are of
magic kind, and resemble those crlagthcettir which are
tied by Mimer's kinswoman Urd. Nidad accordingly
637
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
here appears in Mimer-Njorve's character as "binder."
With this fetter of sinew we must compare the one with
which Loke was bound, and that tough and elastic one
which was made in the lower world and which holds
Fenrer bound until Ragnarok. And as Volund — a cir-
cumstance already made probable, and one that shall be
fully proved below — actually regards himself as insulted
by the gods, and has planned a terrible revenge against
them, then it is an enemy of Odin that Nidhad here binds,
and the above-cited paraphrase for the death-dis, Urd,
employed by Egil Skallagrimson, "the kinswoman of the
binder (Njorva) of Odin's foes" (see No. 85), also
becomes applicable here.
The tradition concerning Nidhad's original identity
with Mimer flourished for a long time in the German
middle-age sagas, and passed thence into the Vilkinasaga,
where the banished Volund became Mimer's smith. The
author of Vilkinasaga, compiling both from German and
from Norse sources, saw Volund in the German records
as a smith in Mimer's employ, and in the Norse sagas he
found him as Nidhad's smith, and from the two synonyms
he made two persons.
The Norse form of the name most nearly correspond-
ing to the Old English Nidhad is Nidi, "the subter-
ranean," and that Mimer also among the Norsemen was
known by this epithet is plain both from the Sol-song
and from Voluspa. The skald of the Sol-song sees in
the lower world "Nide's sons, seven together, drinking
the clear mead from the well of ring-Regin." The well
of the lower world with the "clear mead" is Mimer's
638
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fountain, and the paraphrase ring-Regin is well suited
to Mimer, who possessed among other treasures the won-
derful ring of Hotherus. Voluspa speaks of Nide's
mountain, the Hvergelmer mountain, from which the
subterranean dragon Nidhog flies (see No. 75), and of
Nide's plains where Sindre's race have their golden hall.
Sindre is, as we know, one of the most celebrated prime-
val smiths of mythology, and he smithied Thor's lightning
hammer, Prey's golden boar, and Odin's spear Gungner
(Gylfaginning). Dwelling with his kinsmen in Mimer's
realm, he is one of the artists whom the ruler of the lower
world kept around him (cp. No. 53). Several of the
wonderful things made by these artists, as for instance
the harvest-god's Skidbladner, and golden boar, and
Sif's golden locks, are manifestly symbols of growth or
vegetation. The same is therefore true of the original
Teutonic primeval smiths as of the Ribhuians, the ancient
smiths of Rigveda, that they make not only implements
and weapons, but also grass and herbs. Out of the lower
world grows the world-tree, and is kept continually fresh
by the liquids of the sacred fountains. In the abyss
of the lower world and in the sea is ground that mould
which makes the fertility of Midgard possible (see No.
80) ; in the lower world "are smithied" those flowers and
those harvests which grow out of this mould, and from the
manes of the subterranean horses, and from their foaming
bridles, falls on the fields and meadows that honey-dew
"which gives harvests to men."
Finally, it must be pointed out that when Nidhad binds
Volund, the foe of the gods, this is in harmony with
639
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Mimer's activity throughout the epic of the myths as the
friend of the Asa-gods, and as the helper of Odin, his
sister's son, in word and deed.
Further evidences of Mimer's identity with Nidhad
are to be found in the Svipdag myth, which I shall dis-
cuss further on.
Vafthrudnersmal states in strophe 25 that "beneficent
re gin (makers) created Ny and Nedan to count times for
men/' this being said in connection with what it states
about Narve, Nat, and Dag. In the Voluspa dwarf-list
we find that the chief of these re gin was Modsogner,
whose identity with Mimer has been shown (see No. 53).
Modsogner-Mimer created among other "dwarfs" also
Ny and Nedan (Voluspa, 11). These are, therefore, his
sons at least in the sense that they are indebted to him
for their origin. The expressions to create and to beget
are very closely related in the mythology. Of Njord
Vafthrudner also says (str. 39) that "wise re gin created
him" in Vanaheim.
As sons of Nide-Mimer the changes of the moon have
been called after his name Nidi, and collectively they have
been called by the plural Nidgar, in a later time Nidar.
And as Nat's brothers they are enumerated along with her
as a stereotyped alliteration. In Vafthrudnersmal Odin
asks the wise giant whether he knows whence Nat and
Nidjar '(Nott med NithomJ came, and Voluspa (6)
relates that in the dawn of time the high holy gods (regin)
seated themselves on their judgment-seats and gave
names to Nat and Nidjar (Nott ok Nithiom). The
giving of a name was in heathen times a sacred act,
640
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which implied an adoption in the name-giver's family or
circle of friends.
Nidjar also appears to have had his signification of
moon-changes in regard to the changes of months.
According to Saxo (see No. 46), King Gorm saw in the
lower world twelve sons of Gudmund-Mimer, all "of
noble appearance." Again, Solarljod's skald says that
the sons of Nide, whom he saw in the lower world, were
"seven together." From the standpoint of a nature-
symbol the difference in these statements is explained by
the fact that the months of the year were counted as
twelve, but in regard to seasons and occupations there
were seven divisions: gor-manudr, frer-m., hrut-m.,
ein-tn., sol-w., sel-m., kornskurdar-mdnudr. Seven is the
epic-mythogical number of these Nidjar. To the saga
in regard to these I shall return in No. 94.
88.
A GENERAL REVIEW OF MIMER^S NAMES AND EPITHETS.
The names, epithets, and paraphrases with which the
king of the lower world, the ward of the fountain of
wisdom, was designated, according to the statements
hitherto made, are the following:
(1) Mimir (Hodd-mimir, Mimr, Mimi, Mime der
alte).
(2) Narfi (Narvi, Njorui, Norr, Nari, Neri).
(3) Nidi (Nidhad, Nidadr, Nidudr, Nidungr}.
These three names, which means the Thinker, the
Binder, the Subterranean, are presumably all ancient.
641
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(4) Modsognir, "the mead-drinker."
(5) Hoddrofnir, presumably "the one bounteous in
treasures."
(6) Gauta spjalli, "the one with whom Gaute (Odin)
counsels."
(7) Baug-regin, Ring-regin.
(8) Godmundr, the name by which Mimer appears
in Christian middle-age sagas of Norse origin. To
these names may still be added :
(9) Fimbulthulr, "the great teacher" (the lecturer).
Havamal (str. 142; cp. str. 80) says that Fimbulthulr
drew (fadi) the runes, that ginn-regin "made" (gordo)
them, that is to say, in the older sense of the word, pre-
pared them for use, and that Odin (hroptr raugna) carved
(reist} them. In the strophes immediately preceding,
it is said that Odin, by self-sacrifice, begot runes out of
the deep and fimbul-songs from Beistla's brother. These
statements, joined with those which mention how the
runes given by Mimer were spread over the world, and
were taught by various clan-chiefs to different clans (see
No. 53), make it evident that a perfect myth had been
developed in regard to the origin of the runes and the
spreading of runic knowledge. Mimer, as the possessor
of the well of wisdom, was the inventor or source of the
runes. When Sigrdrifumal (str. 13) says that they
dropped out of Hoddrofner's horn, this is, figuratively
speaking, the same as Havamal tells, when it states that
Fimbulthul carved them. The oldest powers (ginn-
regin') and Odin afterwards developed and spread them.
At the time of Tacitus, and probably one or two cen-
642
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
turies earlier, the art of writing was known among the
Teutons. The runic inscriptions that have come down
to our time bear evidence of a Greek-Roman origin.
By this we do not mean to deny that there were runes
— at least, non-phonetic ones — before them. The many
kinds of magic runes of which our mythic records speak
are perhaps reminiscences of them. At all events we
must distinguish the latter from the common runes for
writing, and also from the many kinds of cypher-runes
the keys of which are to be sought in the common pho-
netic rune-row.
(10) Brimir. By the side of the golden hall of Sindre,
Voluspa (str. 36) mentions the giants Brimer's "bjor"
hall, which is in Okolnir. Bjorr is a synonym for mead
and ale (Alvism., 34). Okolnir means "the place where
cold is not found." The reference is to' a giant dwelling
in the lower world who presides over mead, and whose
hall is situated in a domain to which cold cannot pene-
trate. The myth has put this giant in connection with
Ymer, who in relative opposition to him is called Leir-
brimir, clay-Brimer (Fjollsvinnsmal). These circum-
stances refer to Mimer. So also Sigrdrifumal (str. 14),
where it is said that "Odin stood on the mountain with
Brimer's sword" (Brimis eggiar}, when Mimer's head
for the first time talked with him. The expression
"Brimer's sword" is ambiguous. As a head was once
used as a weapon against Heimdal, a sword and a head
can, according to' Skaldskaparmal, be employed as para-
phrases for each other, whence "Brimer's sword" may be
the same as "Mimer's head" (Skaldskaparmal 69, Cod.
643
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
H. ; cp. Skaldskaparmal, 8, and Gylfag., 27). Sigrdri-
fumal certainly also employs the phrase in its literal sense
of a famous mythological sword, for, in the case in ques-
tion, it represents Odin as fully armed, with helmet on
his head; and the most excellent mythological sword,
according to an added line in strophe 24 of Grimnersmal
(Cod. A.), bore Brimer's name, just as the same sword
in the German saga has the name Miminc (Biterolf v.
176, in Vilkinasaga changed to Mimmung), doubtless
because it at one time was in Mimer-Nidhad's possession ;
for the German saga (Biterolf, 157; cp. Vilkinasaga, ch.
23) remembers that a sword called by Mimer's name was
the same celebrated weapon as that made by Volund
(Weiland in Biterolf; Velint in Vilkinasaga), and hence
the same work of art as that which, according to Vilkina-
saga, Nidhad captured from him during his stay in Wolf-
dales.
89.
THE MEAD MYTH.
We have seen (Nos. 72, 73) that the mead which was
brewed from the three subterranean liquids destroys the
effects of death and gives new vitality to the departed, and
that the same liquid is absorbed by the roots of the world-
tree, and in its trunk is distilled into that sap which gives
the tree eternal life. From the stem the mead rises into
the foliage of the crown, whose leaves nourish the fair
giver of "the sparkling drink," in Grimnersmal sym-
bolised as Heidrun, from the streams of whose teats the
644
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
mead-horns in Asgard are filled for the einherjes. The
morning dew which falls from Ygdrasil down into the
dales of the lower world contains the same elements.
From the bridle of Rimfaxe and from the horses of the
valkyries some of the same dew also falls in the valleys
of Midgard (see No. 74). The flowers receive it in their
chalices, where the bees extract it, and thus is produced
the earthly honey which man uses, and from which he
brews his mead (cp. Gylfag., ch. 16). Thus the latter
too contains some of the strength of Mimer's and Urd's
fountains (veigar — see Nos. 72, 73), and thus it happens
that it is able to stimulate the mind and inspire poetry and
song — nay, used with prudence, it may suggest excellent
expedients in important emergencies (cp. Tacitus, Ger-
mama) .
Thus the world-tree is^among the Teutons, as it is
among their kinsmen the Iranians (see below), a mead-
tree. And so it was called by the latter, possibly also by
the former. The name miotwdr, with which the world-
tree is mentioned in Voluspa (2) and whose origin and
meaning have been so much discussed, is from a mytho-
logical standpoint satisfactorily explained if we assume
that an older word, miodvidr, the mead-tree, passed into
the word similar in sound, mioividr, the tree of fate (from
miot, measure ; cp. mjotudr in the sense of fate, the power
which gives measure, and the Anglo-Saxon metod, Old
Saxon metod, the giver of measure, fate, providence).
The sap of the world-tree and the veigar of the horn
of the lower world are not, however, precisely the same
mead as the pure and undefiled liquid from Mimer's
645
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fountain, that which Odin in his youth, through self-
sacrifice, was permitted to taste, nor is it precisely the
same as that concerning the possession of which the
powers of mythology long contended, before it finally,
through Odin's adventures at Suttung's, came to Asgard.
The episodes of this conflict concerning the mead will
be given as my investigation progresses, so far as they
can be discovered. Here we must first examine what the
heathen records have preserved in regard to the closing
episode in which the conflict was ended in favour of
Asgard. What the Younger Edda (Bragaraedur) tells
about it I must for the present leave entirely unnoticed,
lest the investigation should go astray and become
entirely abortive.
The chief sources are the Havamal strophes 104-110,
and strophes 13 and 14. Subordinate sources are Grim-
nersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15). To this must be
added half a strophe by Eyvind Skaldaspiller (Skaldska-
parmal, ch. 2).
The statements of the chief source have, strange to say,
been almost wholly unobserved, while the mythologists
have confined their atention to the later presentation in
Bragaraedur, which cannot be reconciled with the earlier
accounts, and which from a mythological standpoint is
worse than worthless. In 1877 justice was for the first
time done to Havamal in the excellent analysis of the
strophes in question made by Prof. M. B. Richert, in his
"Attempts at explaining the obscure passages not hitherto
understood in the poetic Edda."
From Havamal alone we get directly or indirectly the
following:
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The giant Suttung, also called Fjalar, has acquired
possession of the precious mead for which Odin longs.
The Asa-father resolves to capture it by cunning.
There is a feast at Fjalar's. Guests belonging to the
clan of rimthurses are gathered in his halls (Havamal,
110). Besides these we must imagine that Suttung-
Fjalar's own nearest kith and kin are present. The
mythology speaks of a separate clan entirely distinct from
the rimthurses, known as Suttungs synir (Alvismal, Skir-
nersmal; see No. 78), whose chief must be Suttung-
Fjalar, as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and
the rimthurses are accordingly gathered at the banquet
on the day in question.
An honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat
prepared for him awaits his arrival. From the continua-
tion of the story we learn that the expected guest is
the wooer or betrothed of Suttung-Fjalar's daughter,
Gunlad. On that night the wedding of the giant's daugh-
ter is to be celebrated.
Odin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the
guest of honour, and is conducted to the golden high-seat.
It follows of necessity that the guise assumed by Odin,
when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods and of
himself, is that of the expected lover. Who the latter
was Havamal does not state, unless strophe 110, 5, like
so many other passages, is purposely ambiguous and con-
tains his name, a question which I shall consider later.
After the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks
back with pleasure upon the success with which he
assumed the guise of the stranger and played his part
647
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(str. 107). el keyptz litar hefi ec vel notith: "From
the well changed exterior I reaped great advantage."
In regard to the mythological meaning of litr, see No. 95 :
The expression keyptr litr, which literally means "pur-
chased appearance," may seem strange, but kaupa means
not only to "buy," but also to "change," "exchange;"
kaupa kladum iM einn means "to change clothes with
some one." Of a queen who exchanged her son with a
slave woman, it is said that she keyptr um sonu vid am-
bdtt. But the cause of Odin's joy is not that he success-
fully carried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way
accomplished a deed of inestimable value for Asgard and
for man (str., 107, 4-6), and he is sorry that poor Gun-
lad's trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This is a
characterisation of Odin's personality.
Nor does Havamal tell us what hinders the real lover
from putting in his appearance and thwarting Odin's
plan, while the latter is acting his part; but of this we
learn something from another source, which we shall
consider below.
The adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dan-
gerous, and he ran the risk of losing his head (str. 106,
6). For this reason he has, before entering Suttung-
Fjalar's halls, secured an egress, through which he must
be able to fly, and if possible, with the skaldic "mead as his
booty. There is no admittance for everybody to the
rocky abode where the mead-treasure so much desired by
all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as Eyvind tells us,
situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record
tells us, watched. But Odin has let Rate bore ("gnaw")
648
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
a tunnel through the mountain large enough to give him
room to retire secretly (str. 106). In regard to Rate,
see No. 82.
When the pretended lover has seated himself in the
golden high-seat, a conversation begins around the ban-
quet table. It is necessary for Odin to guard well his
words, for he represents another person, well known
there, and if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It
is also necessary to be eloquent and winning, so that he
may charm Gunlad and secure her devotion, for without
her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of carrying
away the supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung's.
Odin also boasts (str. 103, 104) that on this occasion he
proved himself minnigr and mdlugr and margfrodr and
eloquent for the realisation of his plan.
During the progress of the feast the guest had his
glass filled to his honour with the precious mead he
desired to obtain. "Gunlad gave me on the golden seat
the drink of the precious mead" (str. 105).
Then the marriage ceremony was performed, and on
the holy ring Gunlad took to Odin the oath of faith-
fulness (str. 110).
It would have been best for the Asa-father if the ban-
quet had ended here, and the bridegroom and the bride
had been permitted to betake themselves to the bridal
chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns
are frequently filled and emptied. Havamal does not
state that the part played by Odin required him to be
continually drinking; but we shall show that Gunlad's
wooer was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in
649
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality.
Odin became on his own confession "drunk, very drunk,
at Fjalar's." "The hern of forgetfulness which steals
one's wit and understanding hovers over his drink" (str.
13, 15).
In this condition he let drop words which were not
those of caution — words which sowed the seed of suspi-
cion in the minds of some of his hearers who were less
drunk. He dropped words which were not spelt with
letters of intelligence and good sense — words which did
not suit the part he was playing.
At last the banquet comes to an end, and the bride-
groom is permitted to be alone with the bride in that
rocky hall which is their bed-chamber. There is no doubt
that Odin won Gunlad's heart, "the heart of that good
woman whom I took in my embrace" (str. 108). With
her help he sees his purpose attained and the mead in his
possession. But the suspicions which his reckless words
had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen which
Havamal does not give a full account of, but of a kind
which would have prevented Odin from getting out of
the giant-gard, had he not had Gunlad's assistance (str.
108). Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunlad of a
kinsman (str. 110 — hann let gr&tta Gurtnlodu', see Rich.,
p. 17). Taking the supply of mead with him, he takes
flight by the way Rate had opened for him — a dangerous
way, for "above and below me were the paths of the
giants" (str. 106).
It seems to have been the custom that the wedding
guests on the morning of the next day went to the door
650
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of the bridal-chamber to hear how the newly-married man
was getting on in his new capacity of husband. Accord-
ing to Havamal, Suttung's guests, the rimthurses, observe
this custom; but the events of the night change their
inquires into the question whether Odin had succeeded in
escaping to the gods or had been slain by Suttung (str.
109, 110).
Thus far Havamal. We must now examine Grimners-
mal (150) and Ynglingatal (15), whose connection with
the myth concerning Odin's exploit in the home of Sut-
tung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed.
Odin says in Grimnersmal :
Svitharr oc Svithrir
er ec het at Sauccmimis
oc dultha ec thann inn aldna iotun,
tha er ec Mithvithnis varc
ins maera burar
ordinn einbani.
"Svidur and Svidrir I was called at Sokmimer's, and I
presented myself to the ancient giant, at the time when I
alone became the slayer of Midvitnir's famous son."
Ynglingatal (15) reads:
En Dagskjarr
Durnis nidja
sajvordudr
Svegdi velti,
tha er i stein
hinn storgedi
Dulsa konr
ept dvergi hljop,
20 ***
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ok sal bjartr
theirra Sokkmimis
jotunbyggdr
vid jofri gein.
"The day-shy hall-guard of Durnir's descendants deceived
Svegdir when he, the dauntless son of Dulsi, ran after the
dwarf into the rock, and when the shining giant-inhabited
hall oi Sokkmimir' s kinsmen yawned against the chief."
(In regard to Dulsi, see No. 83).
What attracts attention in a comparison of these two
strophes is that the epithet Sokkmimir is common to both
of them, while this name does not occur elsewhere in
the whole Old Norse literature.
In both the strophes Sokkmimir is a giant. Grimners-
mal calls him inn aldna iotun, "the ancient giant," with
which we may compare Odin's words in Havamal (104) :
enn aldna iotun ec sotta, "the ancient giant I sought,"
when he visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-
Fjalar, the possessor of the skald-mead, belonged.
In both the strophes the giant Sokkmimir is the lord
and chief of those giants to whom, according to Grim-
nersmal, Odin comes, and outside of whose hall-door,
according to Ynglingatal, a certain Svegdir is deceived
by the ward of the hall. This position of Sokkmimir
in relation to his surroundings already appears, so far as
Grimnersmal is concerned, from the expression at Saucc-
mimis, which means not only "with Sokmimer," but also
"at Sokmimer's," that is to say, with that group of kins-
men and in that abode where Sokmimer is chief and
ruler. It is with this giant-chief, and in his rocky hall,
652
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
that Midvitnir and his son sojourns when Odin visits
him, presents himself to him, and by the name Svidur
(Svidrir} acts the part of another person, and in this
connection causes Midvitner's death. The same quality
of Sokmimer as clan-chief and lord appears in the Yng-
lingatal strophe, in the form that the hall, outside of
whose door Svegder was deceived, is tfoirra Sokkmimis,
that is to say, is the abode of Sokmimer's kinsmen and
household, "is their giant-home." Thus all the giants
who dwell there take their clan-name from Sokmimer.
The appellation Sokkmimir is manifestly not a name in
the strictest sense, but one of the epithets by which this
ancient giant-chief could be recognised in connection with
mythological circumstances. We shall point out these
mythological circumstances further on.
The Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another
epithet for the same mythic person. What the latter half
of the strophe calls the hall of Sokmimer's kinsmen and
household, the former half of the same strophe calls the
hall of Durnir's descendants. Thus Sokmimer and Dur-
nir are the same person.
Durnir, on the other hand, is a variation of Durinn
(cp. the parallel variations Dvalnir and DvoKnri). Of
Durinn we already know (see No. 53) that he is one of
the ancient beings of mythology who in time's morning,
together with Modsognir-Mimer and in accordance with
the resolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of
artists. One of the artists created by Durin, and whose
father he in this sense became, is, according to Voluspa
(11), Mjodvitmr. Rask and Egilsson have for philo-
653
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
logical reasons assumed that Midvitnir and Mjodvitmr
are variations of the same name, and designate the same
person (mjodr, in the dative midi). It here appears that
the facts confirm this assumption. Durinn and Mjodvit-
nir, in Voluspa correspond to Durnir and Midvitnir in
the strophes concerning Sokkmimir.
Mjodvitnir means the mead-wolf, he who captured the
mead celebrated in mythology. As Odin, having assumed
the name of another, visits the abode of the descendants
of Durner-Sokmimer, he accordingly visits that rocky
home, where that giant dwells who has secured and
possesses the mead desired by Odin.
Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain
Svegdir was deceived, when he was outside of the door
of the hall of the kinsmen of Durner-Sokmimer. He who
deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall. The door
appeared to be already open, and the "giant-inhabited"
hall "yawned" festively illuminated (bjartr) toward
Svegder. If we may believe Ynglingatal's commentary
on the strophe, the hall-ward had called to him and said
that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegder
as running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the
door in the rock, eager to get in. What afterwards
happened Ynglingatal does not state; but that Svegder
did not gain the point he desired, but fell into some snare
laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expression that
he was deceived by him, and that this caused his death
follows from the fact that the purpose of the strophe is
to tell how his life ended. Ynglingasaga says that he
got into the rock, but never out of it. The rest that this
654
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
saga has to say of Svegder — that he was on a journey
to the old Asgard in "Tyrkland," to find "Odin the old,"
Gylfaginning's King Priam — has nothing to do with the
mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is of course import-
ant in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard to
the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which
the author of Ynglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases
his work.
The variations Svegdir, Svidgir, and Sveigdir are used
interchangeably in regard to the same person (cp. Yng-
lingatal, 14, 15 ; Fornald., ii. 2 ; Fornm., i. 39 ; and Egils-
son, 796, 801). Svigdir seems to be the oldest of these
forms. The words means the great drinker (Egilsson,
801). Svigdir was one of the most popular heroes of
mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivalde race"), and
was already in heathen times regarded as a race-hero of
the Swedes. In Ynglingatal (14) Svithiod is called
geiri Svigdis, "Svigdir's domain." At the same time,
Svegdir is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne
in mind that several of the names by which Odin is
designated belong to him only in a secondary and trans-
ferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions when
he did not want tb be recognised, and wanted to represent
some one else (cp. Grimnersm., 49) whose name he then
assumed.
When Odin visits the abode of Durinn-Sokkmimir,
where the precious mead is preserved, he calls himself,
according to Grimnersmal, Svidurr, Svidrir. Now it is
the case with this name as with Svigdir, that it was con-
nected with Svithiod. Skaldskaparmal (65) says that
655
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Svithiod vcvr kallat af nafni Svidurs, "Svithiod was named
after the name of Svidur."
Hence (1) the name Svidurr, like Svegdir-Svigdir,
belongs to Odin, but only in a secondary sense, as one
assumed or borrowed from another person; (2) Svidurr,
like Svegdir-Svigdir, was originally a mythic person,
whom tradition connected as a race hero with Svithiod.
From all this it appears that the names, facts, and the
chain of events connect partly the strophes of Grimners-
mal and Ynglingatal with each other, and partly both of
these with Havamal's account of Odin's adventure to se-
cure the mead, and this connection furnishes indubitable
evidence that they concern the same episode in the myth-
ological epic.
In the mythic fragments handed down to our time are
found other epithets, which like Svigdir, refer to some
mythical person who played the part of a champion
drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning
mead and brewing. These epithets are Olvaldi, Olmodr,
and Suwibl finnakonungr, Sumblus phinnorum rex in
Saxo. Sumbl, as a common noun, means ale, feast. In
the "Finn-king" Sumbl these ideas are personified, just
as the soma-drink in the Veda songs is personified in King
Soma. In my treatise on the Ivalde race, I shall revert
to the person who had these epithets, in order to make his
mythological position clear. Here I shall simply point
out the following: Havamal (110) makes one of the
rimthurses, Suttung's guests, say:
Baugeith Odinn
hygg ec at unnit hafi;
656
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
hvat seal hans trygdom trua?
Suttung svikinn
ban let sumbli fra
oc graetta Gunnlaudo.
The strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin
for breaking the oath he took on the ring, and thus show-
ing himself unworthy of being trusted in the promises
and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is
stated that he left Suttung deceitfully robbed of sumbl
(Sumbl), and Gunlad in tears over a lost kinsman.
The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of
sumbl, to be intelligible, requires no other interpretation
than the one which lies near at hand, that Suttung was
treacherously deprived of the mead. But as the skald
might have designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more
definite manner than with the word sumbl, and as he still
chose this word, which to his hearers, familiar with the
mythology, must have called to mind the personal Sumbl
(Olvaldi Svlgdir}, it is not only possible, but, as it seems
to me, even probable, that he purposely chose an ambigu-
ous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to
the deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-
in-law deceitfully lost ; and this seems to me to be corrob-
orated by the juxtaposition of Suttung's and Gunlad's
loss. The common noun sumbl's double meaning as
mead and "drink-feast" has also led M. B. Richert (page
14 in his treatise mentioned above) to assume that "the
expression was purposely chosen in such a manner that the
meaning should not be entirely limited and definite," and
he adds : "A similar indefiniteness of statement, which
657
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
may give rise to abiguity and play of words, is frequently
found in the old songs." Meanwhile, I do not include this
probability in my evidence, and do not present it as the
basis of any conclusions.
The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a
patronymic, and although we can furnish no linguistic
evidence that the original form was Surtungr and charac-
terised its possessor as son of Surtr, still there are other
facts which prove that such was actually the case. The
very circumstance that the skaldic drink which came into
Suttung's possession is paraphrased with the expression
sylgr Surfs attar, "the drink of Surt's race" (Forn-
manna, iii. 3), points that way and the question is settled
completely by the half-strophe quoted in the Younger
Edda (i. 242), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspiller,
where the skaldic potion is called —
hinn er Surts
or sokkdolum
farmagnudr
fljugandi bar.
("the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt's deep
dales").
When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's
deep rocky halls, and, on eagle-pinions, was flying with
the precious mead to Asgard, it was accordingly that
deep, in which Surtr dwells, which he left below him, and
the giant race who had been drinking the mead before
that time, while it was still in Suttung's possession, was
Surt's race. From this it follows that "the ancient giant,"
whom Odin visited for the purpose of robbing his circle
658
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than that
being so well known in the mythology, Surtr, and that
Surtr is identical with Durinn (Durnir), and Sokkmimir.
This also explains the epithet Sokkmimir, "the Mimer
of the deep." S'okk- in Sokk-Mimir refers to Sdkk in
Sdkkdalir, Surt's domain, and that Surt could be asso-
ciated with Mimer is, from the standpoint of Old Norse
poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears
in time's morning as a co-worker with Mimer, and
operating with him as one of the forces of creation in the
service of the oldest high-holy powers (see No. 53).
Consequently Mimer and Sokmimer (Surtr-Durinn)
created the clans of artists.
Surtr, Durinn, Durnir, Sokkmimir, are, therefore,
synonyms, and designate the same person. He has a son
who is designated by the synonyms Suttungr, Fjalarr,
Mj&dvitnir (Midvitnir). Suttung has a son slain by
Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration,
and a daughter, Gunlad. The giant maid, deceived and
deplored by Odin, is consequently the daughter of Surt's
son.
Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant
who reappears in Ragnarok, and there wields the sword
which fells Frey and hurls the flames which consume the
world. It is found to be connected with the myth con-
cerning the oldest events of mythology. In time's morn-
ing we find the fire-being Surt — the representative of
subterranean fire — as a creative force by the side of
Mimer, who is a friend of the gods, and whose kinsman
he must be as a descendant of Ymer. Both work
659
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
together in peace for similar purposes and under the direc-
tion of the gods (Voluspa, 9, 10). But then something
occurs which interrupts the amicable relations. Mimer
and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of
creative force, the mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in
the exclusive possession of Mimer, and he and Urd are
together the ruling powers in the lower world. The
fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race
relegated to the "deep dales," situated to the southward
(Voluspa, 52), difficult of access, and dangerous for the
gods to visit, and presumably conceived as located deeper
down than the lower world governed by Mimer and Urd.
That he tried to get possesion of a part of "Odrarir"
follows from the position he afterwards occupies in the
myth concerning the mead. When daylight again falls on
him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has cap-
tured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which
must originally have come from Mimer's fountain, and
been chiefly composed of its liquid, for it is skaldic mead,
it too, and can also be designated as Odrczrir (Havamal,
107), while the son is called "the mead-wolf," the one
who has robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin
captures his mead by cunning, the grandson of the fire-
giant is slain, the devoted love of the son's daughter is
betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived
and removed. All this, though done for purposes to
benefit gods and men, demands and receives in the mytho-
logy its terrible retribution. It is a trait peculiar to the
whole Teutonic mythology that evil deeds, with a good
purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil
660
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
results, which develop and finally smother the fruits of
the good purpose. Thus Surt has a reason for appearing
in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the world of the Asas,
when the latter is to make room for a realm of justice.
The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.
I have already above (No. 87), had occasion to speak
of the choicest sword of mythology, the one which
Volund smithied and Mimer captured, and which was
fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name
Saxo Latinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on "the
Ivalde, race" it shall be demonstrated who this Hotherus
was in mythology, and that the sword was delivered by
him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfag., 37), informs
us that the lovesick Frey gave the sword to the giant
Gymer for his bride. After coming into the hands of the
giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by
Hggther (an epithet meaning sword-watcher), who in
the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of
Loke's progeny, which in the last days shall harry the
world and fight in Ragnarok (Voluspa, 39-41). When
Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this sword-watcher
in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive
fire. This giant is Fjalar (Voluspa, 41), and that the
purpose of his visit is to secure the sword follows from
the fact that the best sword of mythology is shortly after-
wards in the hands of his father Surt (Voluspa, 50) when
the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons
of Suttung, not of Muspel) to take part in the last con-
flict and destroy with fire that part of the world that
can be destroyed. Frey is slain by the sword which was
once his own.
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
In this manner the myth about the mead and that about
the Volund sword are knit together.
Thor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar's abode. In regard
to this visit we have a few words in strophe 26 of Har-
bardsljod. Harbardr accuses Thor, no doubt unjustly,
of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no
reliable details in the records from heathendom, but a
comparison of the above strophe of Harbardsljod with
Gylfaginning shows that the account compiled in Gylfa-
ginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor's
journey to Utgarda-Loke and his adventures there con-
tains reminiscences of what the original myths have had
to say about his experience on his expedition to Fjalar's.
The fire-giant natures of Surt and of his son Fjalar gleam
forth in the narrative: the ruler of Utgard can produce
earthquakes, and Loge (the flame) is his servant. It is
also doubtless correct, from a mythical standpoint, that
he is represented as exceedingly skilful in "deluding," in
giving things the appearance of something else than they
really are (see No. 39). When Odin assumed the guise of
Fjalar's son-in-law, he defeated Surt's race with their
own weapons.
Eyvind Skaldaspiller states, as we have seen, that
Surt's abode is in dales down in the deep. From an
expression in Ynglingasaga's strophe we must draw the
conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived
the abyss where Surt's race dwelt as regions to which
the light of day never comes. Sokmimer's door-keeper,
one of whose tasks it was to take notice of the wayfarers
who approached, is a day-shy dwarf (dagskjarr salvor-
662
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
dudr; in regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see
Alvissmal). Darkness therefore broods over this region,
but in the abode of the fire-giant it is light (the hall is
bjartr).
I now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under
discussion to recapitulate in brief the proofs and results.
If we for a moment should assume that the main source,
namely, the Havamal strophes, together with Eyvind's
half strophe, were lost, and that the only remaining
evidences were Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15),
together with the prose text in Ynglingasaga, then an
analysis of these would lead to the following result:
(1) Grimnersmal (50) and Ynglingatal (15) should
be compared with each other. The reasons for assuming
them to be intrinsically connected are the folowing:
(a) Both contain the epithet Sokkmimir, which occurs
nowhere else.
(6) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated
by this epithet as chief and lord of a giant race gathered
around him.
(c) Both refer the events described to the same local-
ity : the one tells what occurred in the halls of Sokkmimir;
the other narrates an episode which occurred outside of
the door of Sokmimer's giant abode.
(rf) The one shows that Sokmimer is identical with
Durnir (Durin) ; the other mentions Midvitnir as one of
Sokmimer's subjects. Midvitnir (Mjodvitnir}, accord-
ing to Voluspa, was created by Durinn.
(?) Both describe events occuring while Odin is inside
at Sokmimer's.
663
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(/) The one mentions Svidurr, the other Svegdir.
Mythologically, the two names refer to each other.
(2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode
of Sokkmimir belongs the giant who captured the famous
mead which Odin is anxious to secure. This appears
from the epithet which the author of the Grimnersmal
strophe chose in order to designate him in such a manner
that he could be recognised, namely, Midvitnir, "the mead-
wolf," an epithet which explains why the mead-thirsty
Odin made his journey to this race hostile to the gods.
(3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it
desirable in connection with the purpose of his visit, to
appear in his own name and in a guise easily recognised,
is evident from the fact that he "disguised" himself,
"acted the hypocrite" (dulda), in the presence of the
giant, and appeared as another mythic person, Svidurr.
This mythic person has been handed down in the tradi-
tions as the one who gave the name to Svithiod, and as
a race-hero of the Swedes. Svithiod var kallat af nafni
Svidurs.
(4) While Odin, in the guise of this race-hero, plays
his part in the mountain in the abode of Sokmimer, a
person arrives at the entrance of the halls of this giant.
This person, Svegdir (Svigdir), is in the sagas called the
race-hero of the Swedes, and after him they have called
Svithiod geiri Svigdis. Odin, who acted Svidurr's part,
has also been called Svigdir, Svegdir.
Svigdir is an epithet, and means "the champion drinker"
(Anglo-Saxon swig: to drink deep draughts). "The
champion drinker" is accordingly on his way to the
664
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
"Mead-wolf," while Odin is in his abode. All goes to
show that the event belongs to the domain of the mead-
myth.
Accordingly, the situation is this: A pretended race-
hero and namer of Svithiod is in the abode of Sokmimer,
while a person who, from a mythological standpoint, is the
real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is on his way to
Sokmimer's abode and about to enter. The myth could
not have conceived the matter in this way, unless the
pretended race-hero was believed to act the part of the
real one. The arrival of the real one makes Odin's
position, which was already full of peril, still more
dangerous, and threatens him with discovery and its con-
sequences.
(5) If Odin appeared in the part of a "champion
drinker," he was compelled to drink much in Sokmimer's
halls in order to maintain his part, and this, too, must
have added to the danger of his position.
( 6 ) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed
some degree of caution, in order that his plans might not
be frustrated by the real Svigdir. That which happens
gives the strongest support to this supposition, which in
itself is very probable. Sokmimer's doorkeeper keeps
watch in the darkness outside. When he discovers the
approach of Svigdir, he goes to meet him and informs
him that Odin is inside. Consequently the doorkeeper
knows that Svidurr is Odin, who is unknown to all those
within excepting to Odin himself. This and what follows
seems to show positively that the wise Odin and the
cunning dwarf act upon a settled plan. It may be delu-
665
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sion or reality, but Svigdir sees the mountain door open
to the illuminated giant-hall, and the information that
Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added
that Odin pretends to be Svigdir} causes him, the "proud
one," "of noble race," the kinsman of Dulsi (epithet of
Mundilfore, see No. 83), to rush with all his might
after the dwarf against the real or apparent door, and the
result is that the dwarf succeeded in "deceiving" him
(he velti Svegder), so that he never more was seen.
This is what we learn from the strophes in Grim-
nersmal and Ynglingatal, with the prose text of the
latter. If we now compare this with what Havamal and
Eyvind relates, we get the following parallels :
Havamal and Eyvind.
Odin visits inn aldna iotum
(Surtr and his race).
Odin's purpose is to deceive
the old giant. In his abode is
found a kinsman, who is in
possession of the skaldic
mead (Suttung-Fjalar).
Odin appears in the guise
of Gunlad's wooer, who, 'if he
is named, is called Sumbl
(sumbl=a drink, a feast).
Odin became drunk.
A catastrophe occurs caus-
ing Gunnlod to bewail the
death of a kinsman.
The strophes about
Sokkmimir.
Odin visits inn aldna iotun
(Sokkmimir and his race).
Odin's purpose is to deceive
the old giant. In his abode is
found a kinsman who is in
possession of the skaldic
mead (Midvitnir).
Odin appears as Svidurr-
Svigdir. Svigdir means the
champion drinker.
Odin must have drunk
much, since he appears among
the giants as one acting the
part of a "champion drinker."
A catastrophe occurs caus-
ing Odin to slay Midvitnir's
son.
666
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
To this is finally to be added that Eyvind's statement,
that the event occurred in Surt's Sokkdalir, helps to throw
light on Surt's epithet Sokkmimir, and particularly that
Ynglingatal's account of the arrival and fate of the real
Svegder fills a gap in Havamal's narrative, and shows
how Odin, appearing in the guise of another person who
was expected, could do so without fear of being surprised
by the latter.
NOTE. — The account in the Younger Edda about Odin's
visit to Suttung seems to be based on some satire pro-
duced long after the introduction of Christianity. With
a free use of the confused mythic traditions then extant,
and without paying any heed to Havamal's statement,
this satire was produced to show in a semi-allegorical
way how good and bad poetry originated. The author
of this satire either did not know or did not care about the
fact that Havamal identifies Suttung and Fjalar. To
him they are different persons, of whom the one receives
the skaldic mead as a ransom from the other. While in
Havamal the rimthurses give Odin the name Bolverkr,
"the evil-doer," and this very properly from their stand-
point, the Younger Edda makes Odin give himself this
name when he is to appear incognito, though such a name
was not calculated to inspire confidence. While in Hava-
mal Odin, in the guise of another, enters Suttung's halls,
is conducted to a golden high-seat, and takes a lively part
in the banquet and in the conversation, the Younger Edda
makes him steal into the mountain through a small gimlet-
hole and get down into Gunlad's chamber in this manner,
where he remains the whole time without seeing anyone
21
667
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
else of the people living there, and where, with Gtmlad's
consent, he empties to the bottom the giant's three mead-
vessels, Odrarir, Bodn, and Son. These three names
belong, as we have seen, in the real mythology to the
three subterranean fountains which nourish the roots of
the world-tree. Havamal contents itself with using a
poetic-rhetorical phrase and calling the skaldic mead,
captured by Odin, Odr&rir, "the giver of inspiration,"
"the inspiring nectar." The author of the satire avails
himself of this reason for using the names of the two
other fountains Bodn and Son, and for applying them to
two other "vessels and kettles" in which Suttung is said
to have kept the mead. That he called one of the vessels
a kettle is explained by the fact that the third lower
world fountain is Hvergehnir, "the roaring kettle." In
order that Odin and Gunlad may be able to discuss and
resolve in perfect secrecy in regard to the mead, Odin
must come secretly down into the mountain, hence the
satire makes him use the bored hole to get in. From the
whole description in Havamal, it appears, on the contrary,
that Odin entered the giant's hall in the usual manner
through the door, while he avails himself of the tunnel
made by Rate to get out. Havamal first states that Odin
seeks the giant, and then tells how he enters into conversa-
tion and develops his eloquence in Suttung's halls, and
how, while he sits in the golden high-seat (probably
opposite the host, as Richter has assumed), Gunlad hands
him the precious mead. Then is mentioned for the first
time the way made for him by Rate, and this on the one
hand in connection with the "evil compensation" Gunlad
668
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
received from him, she the loving and devoted woman
whom he had embraced, and on the other hand in con-
nection with the fact that his flight from the mountain
was successful, so that he could take the mead with him
though his life was in danger, and there were giants'
ways both above and below that secret path by which he
escaped. That Odin took the oath of faithfulness on the
holy ring, that there was a regular wedding feast with the
questions on the next morning in regard to the well-being
of the newly-married couple — all this the satire does not
mention, nor does its premises permit it to do so.
90.
THE MEAD-MYTH (continued}. THE MOON AND THE
MEAD. PROOFS THAT NANNA'S FATHER IS THE WARD
OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND GOD OE THE MOON.
Before the skaldic mead came into the possession of
Suttung-Fjalar, it had passed through various adventures.
In one of these enters Mdni, the god of the moon, who by
the names Nokkvi (variation Nokkver), Nefr (variation
Nepr), and Gevarr (Gosvarr'} occupies a very conspicu-
ous position in our mythology, not least in the capacity of
Nanna's father.
I shall here present the proofs which lie near at hand,
and can be furnished without entering into too elaborate
investigations, that the moon-god and Nanna's father are
identical, and this will give me an opportunity of refer-
ring to that episode of the mead-myth, in which he ap-
pears as one of the actors.
669
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The identity of Nokkvi, Nefr, and Gevarr appears from
the following passages :
(1) Hyndluljod, 20: "Nanna was, in the next place,
Nokkvi' s daughter" (Nanna var n<zst thar Nauckua
dottvr) .
(2) Gylfaginning, 32: "The son of Balder and of
Nanna, daughter of Nef, was called Forsete" (Forseti
heiter sonr Baldrs ok Nonnu Nefsdottur). Gylfagin-
ning, 49 : "His (Balder's) wife Nanna, daughter of Nef"
(Kona hans Nanna Nefsdottir).
(3) Saxo, Hist., Dan., iii. : "Gevarr' s daughter Nanna"
(Gevari -filia Nanna). That Saxo means the mythologi-
cal Nanna follows from the fact that Balder appears in
the story as her wooer. That the Norse form of the
name, which Saxo Latinised into Gevarus, was Gevarr,
not Gefr, as a prominent linguist has asssumed, follows
from the rules adopted by Saxo in Latinising Norse
names.
NOTE. — Names of the class to which Gefr would
belong, providing such a name existed, would be Latinised
in the following manner :
(a) Askr Ascerus, Baldr Balderus, Geldr Gelderus,
Glaumr Glomerus, Hodr, Hadr, Odr, Hotherus, Hath-
erus, Hotherus, Svipdagr Svipdagerus, Ullr Ollerus, Yggr
Uggerus, Vigr Vigerus.
(6) Asmundr Asmundus, Amundr Amundus, Arn-
grimr Arngrimus, Bildr Bildus, Knutr Canutus, Fridleifr
Fridlevus, Gautrekr Gotricus, Godmundr Guthmundus,
Haddingr Hadingus, Haraldr Haraldus.
Names ending in -arr are Latinised in the following
manner: 6;o
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
(a) Borgarr Borcarus, Einarr Enarus, Gunnarr Gun-
narus, Hjorvarr Hjartvarus, Ingimarr Ingimarus, Ingvarr
Ingvarus, Ismarr Ismarus, Ivarr Ivarus, Ottarr Otharus,
Rostarr Rostarus, Sigarr Sigarus, Sivarr Sivarus, Vakdi-
marr Valdemarus.
(&) Agnarr Agnerus, Ragnarr Regnerus.
With the ending -arms occurs also in a single instance
a Norse name in -4, namely, Eylimi Olimarus. Herewith
we might perhaps include Liotarus, the Norse form of
which Saxo may have had in Ljoti from Ljotr. Other-
wise Ljotr is a single exception from the rules followed
by Saxo, and methodology forbids our building any thin o1
on a single exception, which moreover is uncertain.
Some monosyllabic names ending in -r are sometimes
unlatinised, as Alf, Ulf, Sten, Ring, Rolf, and sometimes
Latinised with -o, as Alvo, Ulvo, Steno, Ringo, Rolvo,
Alfr is also found Latinised as Alverus.
From the above lists of names it follows that Saxo's
rules for Latinising Norse names ending with the nomina-
tive -r after a consonant were these :
(1) Monosyllabic names (seldom a dissyllabic one, as
Svipdagr} are Latinised with the ending -erus or the
ending -o.
(2) Names of two or more syllables which do not end
in -arr (rarely a name of one syllable, as Bildr) are
Latinised with the ending -us.
(3) Names ending in -arr are Latinised with -arus-, in
a few cases (and then on account of the Danish pronun-
ciation) with -erus.
From the above rules it follows (1) that Gefr, if such a
671
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
name existed, would have been Latinised by Saxo either
into Gezrerus, Ge ferns, or into Gevo, Gefo; (2) that
Gevarr is the regular Norse for Gevarus.
The only possible meaning of the name Gevarr, con-
sidered as a common noun is "the ward of the atmosphere"
from ge (g&; see Younger Edda, ii. 486, and Egilsson,
227) and -varr. I cite this definition not for the purpose
of drawing any conclusions therefrom, but simply because
it agrees with the result reached in another way.
The other name of Nanna's father is, as we have seen,
Nokkvi, Nokkver. This word means the ship-owner,
ship-captain. If we compare these two names, Gevarr
and Nokkver, with each other, then it follows from the
comparison that Nanna's father was a mythic person who
operated in the atmosphere or had some connection with
certain phenomena in the air, and particularly in connec-
tion with a phenomenon there of such a kind that the
mythic fancy could imagine a ship. The result of the
comparison should be examined in connection with a
strophe by Thorbjorn Hornklofve, which I shall now con-
sider.
Thorbjorn was the court-skald of Harald Fairfax, and
he described many of the king's deeds and adventures.
Harald had at one time caused to be built for himself
and his body-guard a large and stately ship, with a
beautiful figure-head in the form of a serpent. On board
this ship he was overtaken by a severe gale, which Horn-
klofve (Harald Harfager's saga, ch. 9) describes in the
following words :
672
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Ut a mar maetir
mannsksedr lagar tanna
rsesinadr til rausnar
rak vebrautar Nokkva.
In prose order : Lagar tanna mannsk&dr matir ut a mar
rak rausnar rcesinadr til Nokkva vebrautar ("The assail-
ants of the skerry (the teeth of the sea), dangerous to
man, flung out upon the sea the splendid serpent of the
vessel's stem to the holy path of Nokve").
All interpreters agree that by "the skerry's assailants,
dangerous to man," is meant the waves which are pro-
duced by the storm and rush against the skerries in
breakers dangerous to seamen. It is also evident that
Hornklofve wanted to depict the violence of the sea when
he says that the billows which rise to assail the skerry
tosses the ship, so that the figure-head of the stem
reaches "the holy path of Nokve." Poems of different
literatures resemble each other in their descriptions of a
storm raging at sea. They make the billows rise to "the
clouds," to "the stars," or to "the moon." Quanti monies
volvuntur aquarum! Jam, jam tactdros sidera summa
putes, Ovid sings (Trist., i. 18, 19) ; and Virgil has it:
Procella fluctus ad sidera tollit (^En., i. 107). One of
their brother skalds in the North, quoted in Skaldskapar-
mal (ch. 61), depicts a storm with the following words:
Hraud i himin upp glodum
hafs, gekk saer af afli,
bor hygg ek at sky skordi,
skaut Ranar vegr mana.
The skald makes the phosphorescence of the sea splash
673
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
against heaven ; he makes the ship split the clouds, and the
way of Ran, the giantess of the sea, cut the path of the
moon.
The question now is, whether Hornklofve by "Nokve's
holy path" did not mean the path of the moon in space,
and whether it is not to this path the figure-head of the
ship seems to pitch when it is lifted on high by the
towering billows. It is certain that this holy way toward
which the heaven-high billows lift the ship is situated in
the atmosphere above the sea, and that Nokve has been
conceived as travelling this way in a ship, since Nokve
means the ship-captain. From this it follows that
Nokve's craft must have been a phenomenon in space
resembling a ship which was supposed to have its course
marked out there. We must therefore choose between
the sun, the moon, and the stars; and as it is the moon
which, when it is not full, has the form of a ship sailing
in space, it is more probable that by Nokve's ship is
meant the moon than that any other celestial body is re-
ferred to.
This probability becomes a certainty by the following
proofs. In Sonatorrek (str. 2, 3) Egil Skallagrimson
sings that when heavy sorrow oppresses him (who has lost
his favourite son) then the song does not easily well forth
from his breast :
Thagna fundr
thriggia nidja
ar borinn
or Jotunheimum,
674
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
lastalauss
er lifnadi
a Nokkvers
nokkva Bragi.
The skaldic song is here compared with a fountain which
does not easily gush forth from a sorrowful heart, and the
liquid of the fountain is compared with the "Thrigge's
kinsmen's find, the one kept secret, which in times past
was carried from Jotunheim into Nokve's ship, where
Brage, unharmed, refreshed himself (secured the vigour
Of life)."
It is plain that Egil here refers to a mythic event that
formed an episode in the myth concerning the skaldic
mead. Somewhere in Jotunheim a fountain containing
the same precious liquid as that in Mimer's well has burst
forth. The vein of the fountain was discovered by kins-
men of Thrigge, but the precious find eagerly desired by
all powers is kept secret, presumably in order that they
who made the discovery might enjoy it undivided and in
safety. But something happens which causes the treas-
ure which the fountain gave its discoverers to be carried
from Jotunheim to Nokve's ship, and there the drink is
accessible to the gods. It is especially mentioned that
Brage, the god of poetry, is there permitted to partake of
it and thus refresh his powers.
Thus the ship of Nanna's father here reappears, and
we learn that on its holy way in space in bygone times it
bore a supply of skaldic mead, of which Brage in the days
of his innocence drank the strength of life.
With this we must compare a mythic fragment pre-
675
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
served in Gylfaginning (ch. 11). There a fountain
called Byrgir is mentioned. Two children, a lass by
name Bit and a lad by name Hjuki, whose father was
named Vidfinnr, had come with a pail to this fountain to
fetch water. The allegory in which the tradition is
incorporated calls the pail Sagr, "the one seething over its
brinks," and calls the pole on which the pail is carried
Simul (according to one manuscript Sumul; cp. Sund,
brewing ale, mead). Bil, one of the two children is put
in connection with the drink of poetry. The skalds pray
that she may be gracious to them . Ef unna itr vildi Bil
Skdldi, "if the noble Bil will favour the skald," is a wish
expressed in a strophe in the Younger Edda, ii. 363.
Byrgir is manifestly a fountain of the same kind as the
one referred to by Egil and containing the skaldic mead.
Byrgir1 's fountain must have been kept secret, it must have
been a "concealed find," for it is in the night, while the
moon is up, that Vidfin's children are engaged in filling
their pail from it. This is evident from the fact that
Mdni sees the children. When they have filled the pail,
they are about to depart, presumably to their home, and
to their father Vidfin. But they do not get home. While
they carry the pail with the pole on their shoulders Mdni
takes them unto himself, and they remain with him,
together with their precious burden. From other mythic
traditions which I shall consider later (see the treatise
on the Ivalde race), we learn that the moon-god adopts
them as his children, and Bil afterwards appears as an
asynje (Younger Edda, i. 118, 556).
If we now compare Egil's statement with the mythic
676
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fragment about Bil and Hjuke, we find in both a fountain
mentioned which contains the liquid of inspiration found
in Mimer's fountain, without being Mimer's well-guarded
or unapproachable "well." In Egil the find is "kept
secret." In Gylfaginning the children visit it in the
night. Egil says the liquid was carried from Jotunheim ;
Gylfaginning says that Bil and Hjuke carried it in a pail.
Egil makes the liquid transferred from Jotunheim to
Nokve's ship; Gylfaginning makes the liquid and its
bearers be taken aloft by the moon-god to the moon,
where we still, says Gylfaginning, can see Bil and Hjuke
(in the moon-spots).
There can therefore be no doubt that Nokve's ship is
the silvery craft of the moon, sailing in space over sea and
land on a course marked out for it, and that Nokve is
the moon-god. As in Rigveda, so in the Teutonic mytho-
logy, the ship of the moon was for a time the place where
the liquid of inspiration, the life- and strength-giving
mead, was concealed. The myth has ancient Aryan roots.
On the myth concerning the mead-carrying ship, to
which the Asas come to drink, rests the paraphrase for
composing, for making a song, which Einar Skalaglam
once used ( Skaldskaparmal, 1). To make songs he calls
"to dip liquid out of Her-Tyr's wind-ship" (ausa Hertys
vingnodar austr; see further No. 121, about Odin's visit
in Nokve's ship).
The name Nefr (variation Nepr), the third name of
Nanna's father mentioned above, occurs nowhere in the
Norse sources excepting in the Younger Edda. It is,
however, undoubtedly correct that Nokve-Gevar was also
called Nef. ,-
677
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
Among all the Teutonic myths there is scarcely one
other with which so many heroic songs composed in
heathen times have been connected as with the myth con-
cerning the moon-god and his descendants. As shall be
shown further on, the Niflungs are descendants of Nef's
adopted son Hjuke, and they are originally named after
their adopted race-progenitor Nefr. A more correct and
an older form is perhaps Hnefr and Hniflungar, and the
latter form is also found in the Icelandic literature. In
Old English the moon-god appears changed into a pre-
historic king, Hndf, also called Hoce (see Beowulf, 2142,
and Gleeman's Tale). Hoce is the same name as the
Norse Hjuki. Thus while Hndf and Hoce are identical
in the Old English poem "Beowulf," we find in the Norse
source that the lad taken aloft by Mane is called by one
of the names of his foster-father. In the Norse account
the moon-god (Nefr) captures, as we have seen, the
children of one Vidfinnr, and at the same time he robs
VidHnnr of the priceless mead of inspiration found in the
fountain Byrgir. In the Old English saga Hndf has a
son-in-law and vassal, whose name is Finn (Fin Folcvald-
ing), who becomes his bitterest foe, contends with him, is
conquered and pardoned, but attacks him again, and, in
company with one Gudere (Gunnr), burns him. Accord-
ing to Saxo, Nanna's father Gevarr has the same fate.
He is attacked by a vassal and burnt. The vassal is
called Gunno (Gunnr, Gudere). Thus we have in the
Old English tradition the names Hndf, Hoce, Fin, and
Gudere; and in the Norse tradition the corresponding
names Nefr, Hjuki, Vidfinnr, and Gunnr (Gunnarr).
678
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The relation of the moon-god (Ne.fr) to Vidfinnr is the
mythological basis of Fin's enmity to Hndf. The burn-
ing is common to both the Old English and the Norse
sources. Later in this work I shall consider these cir-
cumstances more minutely. What I have stated is suffi-
cient to show that the Old English tradition is in this
point connected with the Norse in a manner, which con-
firms Nefr-Gevarr's identity with Mdni, who takes aloft
Hjuki and robs Vidfinnr of the skaldic mead.
The tradition of Gevarr-Nefr's identity with Mdni
reappears in Iceland once more as late as in Hromund
Greipson's saga. There a person called Mdni Karl shows
where the hero of the saga is to find the sword Mistel-
teinn. In Saxo, Nanna's father Gevarr shows the before-
mentioned Hotherus where he is to find the weapon
which is to slay Balder. Thus Mdni in Hromund's saga
assumes the same position as Gevarr, Nanna's father,
occupies in Saxo's narative.
All these circumstances form together a positive proof
of the moon-god's identity with Nanna's father. Further
on, when the investigation has progressed to the proper
point, we shall give reasons for assuming that Vidfinnr
of the Edda, the Fin of the English heroic poem, is the
same person whom we have heretofore mentioned by the
name Sumbl Finnakonungr and Svigdir, and that the
myth concerning the taking of the mead aloft to the moon
accordingly has an epic connection with the myth con-
cerning Odin's visit to the giant Fjalar, and concerning
the fate which then befell Nokve's slayer.
679
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
91.
THE MYTH CONCERNING THE MOON-GOD (continued').
The moon-god, like Nat, Dag, and Sol, is by birth and
abode a lower-world divinity. As such, he too had his
importance in the Teutonic eschatology. The god who
on his journeys on "Nokve's holy way" serves auldom at
drtali (Vafthrudnersmal, 23) by measuring out to men
time in phases of the moon, in months, and in years
has, in the mythology also, received a certain influence
in inflicting suffering and punishment on sinners. He is
lord of the heiptir, the Teutonic Erinnyes (see No. 75),
and keeps those limar (bundles of thorns) with which the
former are armed, and in this capacity he has borne the
epithet Eylimi, which reappears in the heroic songs in a
manner which removes all doubt that Nanna's father was
originally meant. (See in Saxo and in Helge Hjorvard-
son's saga. To the latter I shall return in the second
part of this work, and I shall there present evidence that
the saga is based on episodes taken from the Balder myth,
and that Helge Hjorvardson is himself an imitation of
Balder). In this capacity of lord of the Heiptir the
moon-god is the power to whom prayers are to be
addressed by those who desire to be spared from those
sufferings which the Heiptir represent (Heithtom seal
mdna qvedja — Havamal, 137). His quality as the one
who keeps the thorn-rods of the heiptir still survives in
a great part of the Teutonic world in the scattered tradi-
tions about "the man in the moon," who carries bundles
of thorns on his back (J. Grimm, Myth., 680; see No.
680
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
92.
THE MOON-DIS NANNA. THE MERSEBURG FORMULA.
BANDER'S NAME EAI<R.
Thus Nanna is the daughter of the ruler of the moon,
of "the ward of the atmosphere." This alone indicates
that she herself was mythologically connected with the
phenomena which pertain to her father's domain of
activity, and in all probability was a moon-dis (goddess).
This assumption is fully confirmed by a contribution to
Teutonic mythology rescued in Germany, the so-called
Merseburg formula, which begins as follow:
Phol ende Uodan Fair and Odin
vuoron zi holza went to the wood,
du vart demo Balderes then was the foot sprained
volon sin vous birenkit on Balder's foal.
thu biguolon Sinhtgunt. Then sang over him Sinhtgunt,
Sunna era svister, Sunna her sister,
thu biguolen Friia, then sang over him Frigg,
Volla era svister Fulla her sister;
thu biguolen Uodan then sang over him Odin
so he wola conda. as best he could.
Of the names occurring in this strophe Uodan-Odin,
Balder, Sunna (synonym of Sol — Alvissm., 17; Younger
Edda, i. 472, 593), Friia-Frigg, and Volla-Fulla are well
known in the Icelandic mythic records. Only Phol and
Sinhtgunt are strangers to our mythologists, though Phol-
Falr surely ought not to be so.
In regard to the German form Phol, we find that it
has by its side the form Fal in German names of places
connected with fountains. Jacob Grimm has pointed out
68 1
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
a "Pholes" fountain in Thuringia, a "Fals" fountain in
the Prankish Steigerwald, and in this connection a
"Balder" well in Rheinphaltz. In the Danish popular
traditions Balder's horse had the ability to produce foun-
tains by tramping on the ground, and Balder's fountain
in Seeland is said to have originated in this manner (cp.
P. E. Miiller on Saxo, Hist., 120). In Saxo, too, Balder
gives rise to wells ( Victor Balderus, ut aiflictum siti mili-
tem opportuni liquoris beneficio recrearet, novos humi
latices terram altius rimatus operuit — p. 120).
This very circumstance seems to indicate that Phol,
Fal, was a common epithet or surname of Balder in Ger-
many, and it must be admitted that this meaning must
have appeared to the German mythologists to be con-
firmed by the Merseburg formula; for in this way alone
could it be explained in a simple and natural manner,
that Balder is not named in the first line as Odin's com-
panion, although he actually attends Odin, and although
the misfortune that befalls "Balder's foal" is the chief
subject of the narrative, while Phol on the other hand
is not mentioned again in the whole formula, although
lie is named in the first line as Odin's companion.
This simple and incontrovertible conclusion, that Phol
and Balder in the Merseburg formula are identical is put
beyond all doubt by a more thorough examination of the
Norse records. In these it is demonstrated that the name
Fair was also known in the North as an epithet of Balder.
The first books of Saxo are based exclusively on the
myths concerning gods and heroes. There is not a
single person, not a single name, which Saxo did not
6S2
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
borrow from the mythic traditions. Among them is also
a certain Fjallerus, who is mentioned in bk. i. 160. In
the question in regard to the Norse form which was
Latinised into Fjallerus, we must remember that Saxo
writes Hjallus (Hist., pp. 371, 672) for Hjaii (cp. p.
370), and alternately Colo, Collo, and Collerus (Hist.,
pp. 56, 136, 181), and that he uses the broken form
Bjarbi for Barri (Hist., p. 250). In accordance with
this the Latin form Fjallerus must correspond to the Norse
Fair, and there is, in fact, in the whole Old Norse litera-
ture, not a single name to be found corresponding to this
excepting Fair, for the name Fjalarr, the only other one
to be thought of in this connection should, according to
the rules followed by Saxo, be Latinised into Fjallarus or
Fjalarus, but not into Fjallerus.
Of this Fjallerus Saxo relates that he was banished by
an enemy, and the report says that Fjallerus betook him-
self to the place which is unknown to our populations,
and which is called Oddins-akr (quern ad locum, cui
Undensakre nomen est, nostris ignotum populis concess-
isse est fama — p. 160.)
The mythology mentions only a single person who by
an enemy was transferred to Odainsakr, and that is Bal-
der. (Of Odainsakr and Balder's abode there, see Nos.
44-53).
The enemy who transfers Fair to the realm of immor-
tality is, according to Saxo, a son of Horvendillus, that is
to say, a son of the mythological Orvandill, Groa's
husband and Svipdag's father (see Nos. 108, 109).
Svipdag has already once before been mistaken by Saxo
683
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
for Hofkerus (see No. 101). Hotherus is, again, the
Latin form for Hodr. Hence it is Balder' s banishment
by Hodr to the subterranean realms of immortality of
which we here read in Saxo where the latter speaks of
Fal's banishment to Oddinsakr by a son of Orvandel.
When Balder dies by a flaug hurled by Hodr he stands
in the midst of a rain of javelins. He is the centre of a
mannhringr, where all throw or shoot at him: sumir
skjota a hann, sumir hoggva til, sumir berja grjoti
(Gylfaginning). In this lies the mythical explanation
of the paraphrase Fal's rain, which occurs in the last
strophe of a poem attributed to the skald Gisle Surson.
Jn Gisle's saga we read that he was banished on account
of manslaughter, but by the aid of his faithful wife he
was able for thirteen years to endure a life of persecutions
and conflicts, until he finally was surprised and fell by the
weapons of his foes. Surrounded by his assailants, he
as said to have sung the strophe in question, in which
he says that "the beloved, beautiful, brave Fulla of his
hall," that is to say, his wife, "is to enquire for him, her
friend," for whose sake "Fal's rain" now "falls thick and
fast," while "keen edges bite him." In a foregoing
strophe Gisle has been compared with a "Balder of the
shield," and this shield-Balder now, as in the Balder of
the myth, is the focus of javelins and swords, while he
like Balder, has a beautiful and faithful wife, who, like
Nanna, is to take his death to heart. If the name Nanna,
as has been assumed by Vigfusson and others, is con-
nected with the verb nenna, and means "the brave one,"
then rekkildt Fulla, "the brave Fulla of Gisle's hall," is
684
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
an all the more appropriate reference to Nanna, since Fulla
and she are intimately connected in the mythology, and
are described as the warmest of friends (Gylfagining).
Briefly stated: in the poem Gisle is compared with Bal-
der, his wife with Nanna, his death with Balder's death,
and the rain of weapons by which he falls with Pal's
rain.
In a strophe composed by Refr (Younger Edda? i. 240)
the skald offers thanks to Odin, the giver of the skaldic
art. The Asa-father is here called Pals Urannvala brau^
tar fannar salar valdi ("The ruler of the hall of the drift
of the way of the billow-falcons of Fal"). This long
paraphrase means, as has also been assumed by others,
the ruler of heaven. Thus heaven is designated as "the
hall of the drift of the way of the billow-falcons of Fal."
The "drift" which belongs to heaven, and not to the earth,
is the cloud. The heavens are "the hall of the cloud."
But in order that the word "drift" might be applied in
this manner it had to be united with an appropriate word,
showing that the heavens were meant. This is done by
the adjective phrase "of the way of the billow-falcons of
Fal." Standing alone, "the drift of the way of the bil-
low-falcons" could not possibly mean anything else than
the billow white with foam, since "billow-falcons" is a
paraphrase for ships, and the "way of the billow-falcons"
is a paraphrase for the sea. By adding the name Pair
the meaning is changed from "sea" to "sky." By Fal's
"billow-falcons" must therefore be meant objects whose
course is through the air, just as the course of the ships
is on the sea, and which traverse the drift of the sky,
685
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the cloud, just as the ships plough through the drift of
the sea, the white-crested billow. Such a paraphrase
could not possibly avoid drawing the fancy of the hear-
ers and readers to the atmosphere strewn with clouds
and penetrated by sunbeams, that is, to Odin's hall.
Balder is a sun-god, as his myth, taken as a whole, plainly
shows, and as is manifested by his epithet: raudbrikar
rikr rczkir (see No. 53). Thus Fal, like Balder, is a
divinity of the sun, a being which sends the sunbeams
down through the drifts of the clouds. As he, further-
more, like Balder, stood in a rain of weapons under cir-
cumstances sufficiently familiar for such a rain to be rec-
ognised when designated as Fal's, and as he, finally, like
Balder, was sent by an opponent to the realm of immor-
tality in the lower world, then Fair and Balder must be
identical.
Their identity is furthermore confirmed by the fact
that Balder in early Christian times was made a histori-
cal king of Westphalia. The statement concerning this,
taken from Anglo-Saxon or German sources, has entered
into the foreword to Gylfaginning. Nearly all lands and
peoples have, according to the belief of that time, received
their names from -ancient chiefs. The Franks were said
to be named after one Francio, the East Goth after Ostro-
gotha, the Angles after Angul, Denmark after Dan, &c.
The name Phalia, Westphalia, was explained in the same
manner, and as Balder's name was Phol, Fal, this name
of his gave rise to the name of the country in question.
For the same reason the German poem Biterolf makes
Balder (Paltram) into king ze Pulle. (Compare the
686
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
local name Polde, which, according to J. Grimm, is found
in old manuscripts written Polidi and Pholidi.) In the
one source Balder is made a king in Pholidi, since Phol is
a name of Balder, and in the other source he is for the
same reason made a king in Westphalia, since Phal is a
variation of Phol, and likewise designated Balder. "Bit-
erolf" has preserved the record of the fact that Balder
was not only the stateliest hero to be found, but also the
most pure in morals, and a man much praised. Along
with Balder, Gylfaginning speaks of another son of Odin,
Siggi, who is said to have become a king in Frankland.
The same reason for which Fal-Balder was made a king
in Westphalia also made the apocryphal Siggi in question
the progenitor of Frankian kings. The Frankian branch
to which the Merovingian kings belonged bore the name
Sigambrians, and to explain this name the son Siggi was
given to Odin, and he was made the progenitor and
eponym of the Sigambrians.
After this investigation which is to be continued more
elaborately in another volume, I now return to the Merse-
burg formula :
"Fall and Odin
Went to the wood,
Then the foot was sprained
Of Balder's foal."
With what here is said about Balder's steed, we must
compare what Saxo relates about Balder himself : Adeo
in adversam corporis valetudinem incidit, ut ni pedibus
quidem incedere posset (Hist., 120).
The misfortune which happened first to Balder and then
687
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
to Balder's horse must be counted among the warnings
which foreboded the death of the son of Odin. There
are also other passages which indicate that Balder's horse
must have had a conspicuous signification in the mythol-
ogy, and the tradition concerning Balder as rider is pre-
served not only in northern sources (Lokasenna, Gyl-
faginning) , and in the Merseburg formula, but also in the
German poetry of the middle ages. That there was some
witchcraft connected with this misfortune which hap-
pened to Balder's horse is evident from the fact that the
magic songs sung by the goddesses accompanying him
availed nothing. According to the Norse ancient records,
the women particularly exercise the healing art of witch-
craft (compare Groa and Sigrdrifva), but still Odin has
the profoundest knowledge of the secrets of this art ; he is
galdrs fadir (Veg., 3). And so Odin comes in this in-
stance, and is successful after the goddesses have tried
in vain. We must fancy that the goddesses make haste
to render assistance in the order in which they ride in
relation to Balder, for the event would lose its serious-
ness if we should conceive Odin as being very near to
Balder from the beginning, but postponing his activity
in order to shine afterwards with all the greater magic
power, which nobody disputed.
The goddesses constitute two pairs of sisters: Sinht-
gunt and her sister Sunna, and Frigg and her sister Fulla.
According to the Norse sources, Frigg is Balder's mother.
According to the same records, Fulla is always near
Frigg, enjoys her whole confidence, and wears a diadem
as a token of her high rank among the goddesses. An
688
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
explanation of this is furnished by the Merseburg for-
mula, which informs us that Fulla is Frigg's sister, and
so a sister of Balder's mother. And as Odin is Balder's
father, we find in the Merseburg formula the Balder of
the Norse records, surrounded by the kindred assigned
to him in these records.
Under such circumstances it would be strange, indeed,
if Sinhtgunt and the sun-dis, Sunna, did not also belong
to the kin of the sun-god, Balder, as they not only take
part in this excursion of the Balder family, but are also
described as those nearest to him, and as the first who
give him assistance.
The Norse records have given to Balder as wife Nanna,
daughter of that divinity which under Odin's supremacy
is the ward of the atmosphere and the owner of the moon-
ship. If the continental Teutons in their mythological
conceptions also gave Balder a wife devoted and faithful
as Nanna, then it would be in the highest degree im-
probable that the Merseburg formula should not let her
be one of those who, as a body-guard, attend Balder on
his expedition to the forest. Besides Frigg and Fulla,
there are two goddesses who accompany Balder. One
of them is a sun-dis, as is evident from the name Sunna ;
the other, Sinhtgunt, is, according to Bugge's discrimi-
nating interpretation of this epithet, the dis "who night
after night has to battle her way." A goddess who is
the sister of the sun-dis, but who not in the daytime but
in the night has to battle on her journey across the sky,
must be a goddess of the moon, a moon-dis. This moon-
goddess is the one who is nearest at hand to bring assist-
689
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
ance to Balder. Hence she can be none else than Nanna,
who we know is the daughter of the owner of the moon-
ship. The fact that she has to battle her way across the
sky is explained by the Norse mythic statement, accord-
ing to which the wolf-giant Hate is greedy to capture the
moon, and finally secures it as his prey (Voluspa, Gyl-
faginning). In the poem about Helge Hjorvardson,
which is merely a free reproduction of the materials in
the Balder-myth (which shall be demonstrated in the
second part of this work), the giant Hate is conquered
by the hero of the poem, a Balder figure, whose wife is a
dis, who, "white" herself, has a shining horse (str. 25,
28), controls weather and harvests (str. 28), and makes
nightly journeys on her steed, and "inspects the harbours"
(str. 25).
The name Nanna (from the verb nenna; cp. Vigfus-
son, Lex.} means "the brave one." With her husband
she has fought the battles of light, and in the Norse, as
in the Teutonic, mythology, she was with all her tender-
ness a heroine.
" The Merseburg formula makes the sun-dis and the
moon-dis sisters. The Norse variation of the Teutonic
myth has done the same. Vafthrudnersmal and Gyl-
faginning (ch. 11) inform us that the divinities which
govern the chariots of the sun and moon were brother
and sister, but from the masculine form Mdni Gylfagin-
ning has drawn the false conclusion that the one who
governed the car of the moon was not a sister but a
brother of the sun. In the mythology a masculine divin-
ity Mdni was certainly known, but he was the father of
690
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the sun-dis and moon-dis, and identical with Gevarr-
Nckkvi-Nefr, the owner of the moon-ship. The god
Mdni is the father of the sun-dis for the same reason as
Nat is the mother of Dag.
Vafthrudnersmal informs us that the father of the
managers of the sun- and moon-cars was called Mundil-
fori. We are already familiar with this mythic person-
ality (see Nos. 81-83) as the one who is appointed to
superintend the mechanism of the world, by whose Mon-
dull the starry firmament is revolved. It is not probable
that the power governing the motion of the stars is any
other than the one who under Odin's supremacy is ruler
of the sun and moon, and ward of all the visible phenom-
ena in space, among which are also the stars. As, by
comparison of the old records, we have thus reached the
conclusion that the managers of the sun and moon are
daughters of the ward of the atmosphere, and as we
have also learned that they are daughters of him who
superintends the motion of the constellations, we are
unable to see anything but harmony in these statements.
Mundilfori and Gevarr-Nokkvi-Nefr are the same per-
son.
It should be added that the moon-goddess, like her
father, could be called Mdni without there being any ob-
stacle in the masculine form of the word. The name of
the goddess Skadi is also masculine in form, and is in-
flected as a masculine noun (oblique case, Skada —
Younger Edda, 212, 268).
691
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
93.
COSMOGRAPHIC REVIEW.
In the preceding pages various scattered contributions
have been made to Teutonic cosmography, and particu-
larly to the topography of the lower world. It may not
be out of the way to gather and complete these frag-
ments.
The world-tree's three roots, which divide themselves
in the lower world and penetrate through the three lower-
world fountains into the foundations of the world-
structure and hold it together, stand in a direction from
north to south — the northernmost over the Hvergelmer
fountain, with its cold waters; the middle one over Mi-
mer's well, which is the fountain of spiritual forces; and
the third over Urd's well, whose liquids give warmth to
Ygdrasil (see No. 63).
In a north and south direction stands likewise the
bridge Bifrost, also called Bilrost, Asbru (Grimnersmal,
29), and in a bold paraphrase, hitherto not understood,
tkiodvitnis User, "the fish of the folk-wolf." The para-
phrase occurs in Grimnersmal (21) in its description of
Valhal and other abodes of the gods:
thytr thund,
unir thiodvitnis
fiscr flodi i
arstraumr thickir
ofmicil
valglaumi at vatha.
"Thund (the air-river) roars. The fish of the folk-
692
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
wolf stands secure in the stream. To the noisy crowd of
sword-fallen men the current seems too strong to wade
through."
It has already been shown (No. 65) that those fallen
by the sword ride with their psychopomps on Bifrost up
to Valhal, and do not proceed thither through space, but
have a solid foundation for the hoofs of their steeds.
Here, as in Fafnersmal (15), the air is compared with a
river, in which the horses are compelled to wade or
swim if the bridge leading to Asgard is not used, and the
current in this roaring stream is said to be very strong;
while, on the other hand, "the fish" stands safe and in-
viting therein. That the author of Grimnersmal called
the bridge a fish must seem strange, but has its natural
explanation in Icelandic usage, which called every bridge-
end or bridge-head a spordr, that is, a fish-tail. Compare
Sigrdrifumal (16), which informs us that runes were
risted on "the fish-tail" of the great mythic bridge (a
bruar spordi), and the expression bruarspordr (bridge-
head, bridge-"fish-tail") in Njala (246) and Biskupa, s.
(1, 17). As a bridge-pier could be called a fish-tail,
it was perfectly logical for the poem to make the bridge
a fish. On the zenith of the bridge stands Valhal, that
secures those fallen in battle, and whose entrance is dec-
orated with images of the wolf and of the eagle (Grim-
nersmal, 10), animals that satisfy their hunger on the
field of battle. This explains why the fish is called that
of the folk-wolf or great wolf. The meaning of the
paraphrase is simply "the Valhal bridge." That the
bow of Bifrost stands north and south follows from the
693
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
fact that the gods pass over one end of the bridge on
their way to Urd's fountain, situated in the south of the
lower world, while the other end is outside of Niefelhel,
situated in the north. From the south the gods come to
their judgment-seats in the realm of the dis of fate and
death. From the north came, according to Vegtams-
kvida, Odin when he rode through Nifelhel to that hall
which awaited Balder. Why the Asa-father on that oc-
casion chose that route Vegtamskvida does not inform
us. But from Saxo (Hist. Dan., 126), who knew an
old heathen song about Odin's visit in the lower world
on account of Balder's death, we get light on this point.
According to this song* it was Rostiophus Phinnicus
who told Odin that a son of the latter and Rind was to
avenge Balder's death. Rostiophus is, as P. E. Miiller
has already remarked, the rimthurs Hrossthiofr men-
tioned in Hyndluljod as a son of Hrimnir and brother
of the sorceress Heidr, the vala and witch well known
from Voluspa and other sources. Nifelhel is, as shown
above (No. 60), the abode of the rimthurses transferred
to the lower world. Where his father Hrimnir (Ber-
gelmer) and his progenitor Hrimgrimnir (Thrudgelmer)
dwell in the thurs-hall mentioned in Skirnersmal, there
we also find Hrossthiofr, and Odin must there seek him.
Vegtamskvida makes Odin seek his sister.
It is Bifrost's north bridge-head which particularly
•Possibly the same as that of which a few strophes are preserved in
Baldrs draumar, an old poetic fragment whose gaps have been filled in a
very unsatisfactory manner in recent times with strophes which now are
current as Vegtamskvida. That Odin, when he is about to proceed to the
abode which in the subterranean realms of bliss is to receive Balder, chooses
the route through Nifelhel is explained not by Vegtamskvida, where this
fact is stated, but by the older poem mentioned by Saxo, which makes him
seek the dweller in Nifelhel, the rimthurs Hrossthiofr, son of Hrimnir.
694
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
requires the vigilance of Heimdal, the ward of the gods,
since the rimthurses and the damned are its neighbours.
Heimdal is therefore "widely known" among the in-
habitants of Nifelhel ( Skirnersmal, 28), and T/oke re-
proaches Heimdal that his vocation as watchman always
compels him to expose his back to the torrents of an un-
favourable sky (Lokas., 48). In the night which con-
stantly broods over this northern zone shine the forms of
the "white" god and of his gold-beaming horse Gull-
toppr, when he makes spying expeditions there. His
eye penetrates the darkness of a hundred "rasts," and his
ear catches the faintest sound (Gylfag., 27). Near
Bifrost, presumably at the very bridge-head, mythology
has given him a fortified citadel, Himinbjorg, "the ward
of heaven," with a comfortable hall well supplied with
"the good mead" (Grimn., 13; Gylfag., 27).
The lower world is more extensive in all directions than
the surface of the earth above it. Bifrost would not be
able to pass outside and below the crust of the earth to
rest with its bridge-heads on the domain of the three
world-fountains if this were not the case. The lower
world is therefore called Jormungrund, "the great ground
or foundation" (Forspjallsljod, 25), and its uttermost
zone, jadarr Jormungrundar, "the domain of the great
ground," is open to the celestial canopy, and the under
side of the earth is not its roof. From Hlidskjalf, the
outlook of the gods in Asgard (Forspjallsljod, the prose
texts in Skirnersmal and in Grimnersmal), the view is
open to Midgard, to the sea, and to the giant-world situ-
ated beyond the Elivagar rivers (see the texts mentioned),
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TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and should accordingly also be so to the broad zone of
Jormungrimd, excepting its northernmost part, which
always is shrouded in night. From Hlidskjalf the eye
cannot discern what is done there. But Heimdal keeps
watch there, and when anything unusual is perceived
Odin sends the raven Huginn (Hugr) thither to spy it
out (Forspjallsljod, 10, 3, which strophes belong to-
gether). But from Hlidskjalf as the point of observa-
tion the earth conceals all that part of Jormungrund be-
low it; and as it is important to Odin that he should
know all that happens there, Huginn and Muninn fly
daily over these subterranean regions : Huginn oc Muninn
fljuga huerjan dag iormungrund yfir (Grimnersmal,
20). The expeditions of the ravens over Nifelhel in
the north and over Surt's "deep dales" in the south ex-
pose them to dangers : Odin expresses his fear that some
misfortune may befall them on these excursions (Grim-
nersmal, 20).
In the western and eastern parts of jadarr Jormun-
grundar dwell the two divine clans the Vans and Elves,
and the former rule over the whole zone ever since "the
gods in time's morning," gave Frey, Njord's bounteous
son, Alfheim as a tooth-gift (Grimners., 5). Delling
is to be regarded as clan-chief of the Elves (light-Elves),
since in the very theogony he is ranked with the most
ancient powers. With Mimer's daughter Nat he be-
comes the father of Dag and the progenitor of Dag's
synir (the light-Elves). It has already been empha-
sised (see No. 53) that he is the lord of the rosy-dawn,
and that outside of his doors the song of awakening is
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TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
sung every morning over the world: "Power to the
Asas, success to the Elves, and wisdom to Hroptatyr"
(Havamal, 100). The glow of dawn blazes up from
his domain beyond the eastern horizon. Where this
clan-chieftain of the Elves dwells, thither the mythology
has referred the original home of his clan. Alfheimr
occupies the eastern part of Jormungrund's zone. It is
in the eastern part that Dag, Delling's son, and Sol, his
kinswoman, mount their chariots to make their journey
around the earth in the sky. Here is also the Hel-gate
through which all the dead must pass in the lower world
(No. 68).
There are many proofs that the giant settlement with
the Ironwood or Myrkwood was conceived as extending
from the north over large portions of the east (Voluspa,
39, 48, &c.). These regions of Alfheim constitute the
southern coasts of the Elivagar, and are the scenes of
important events in the epic of the mythology (see the
treatise on the Ivalde race).
Vanaheimr is situated in the western half of the zone.
At the banquet in ZEgir's hall described in Lokasenna,
Loke says to Njord :
thu vast austr hedan
gisl um sendr godum-
"From here you were sent out east as a hostage to the
gods."
yEgir's hall is far out in the depths of the sea. The
ocean known by the Teutons was the North Sea. The
author has manifestly conceived ^Egir's hall as situated
697
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
in the same direction from Asgard as Vanaheim, and not
far from the native home of the Vans. This lies in the
word hedan (from here). According to Vafthrudners-
mal (str. 39), Njord was "created in Vanaheim by wise
regin." When he was sent as a hostage to the gods to
Asgard he had to journey eastward (austr). The west-
ern location of Vanaheim is thereby demonstrated.
In the "western halls" of Vanaheim dwells Billing,
Rind's father, the father of the Asa-god, Vale's mother
(Rindr berr Vala i vcestrsolum — Vegt, 11). His name
has been preserved in both the German and the Anglo-
Saxon mythic records. An Old German document men-
tions together Billunc and Nidunc, that is, Billing and
Mimer (see No. 87). In the mythology Mimer's do-
main is bounded on the west by Billing's realm, and on
the east by Delling's. Belling is Mimer's son-in-law.
According to Voluspa, 13 (Codex Hauk.), Billing is a
being which in time's morning, on the resolve of the gods,
was created by Modsognir-Mimer and Durinn. Mimer's
neighbours in the east and in the west were therefore in-
timately connected with him. An Anglo-Saxon record
(Codex Exoniensis, 320, 7) makes Billing the race-
hero of the kinsmen and neighbours of the Angles, the
Varnians (Billing veold Vernum). This too has a
mythological foundation, as appears in Grimnersmal (39)
and in the saga of Helge Hjorvardson, which, as be-
fore stated, is composed of mythic fragments. When
Sol and Mane leave Delling's domain and begin their
march across the heavens, their journey is not without
danger. From the Ironwood (cp. Voluspa, 39) come
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TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the wolf-giants Skoll and Hate and pursue them. Skoll
does not desist from the pursuit before the car of the
bright- faced goddess has descended toward the western
halls and reached Varna vidr (Scaull heitir ulfr, er fylgir
eno scirleita godi til Varna vidar — Grimnersmal, 39).
Varna vidr is the forest of the mythic Varnians or Varin-
ians. Varnians, Varinians, means "defenders," and the
protection here referred to can be none other than that
given to the journeying divinities of light when they have
reached the western horizon. According to Helge
Hjorvardson's saga, Hate, who pursues the moon, is
slain near Varin's Bay. Varinn, the "defender," "pro-
tector," is the singular form of the same word as reap-
pears in the genitive plural Varna. These expressions —
Billing veold Vernum, Varna vidr, and Varins ink — are
to be considered as belonging together. So also the local
names borrowed from the mythology, Varinsfjordr and
Varinsey, in Helge Hjorvardson's saga, where several
names reappear, e.g., Svarinn, Moinn, Alfr, and Yngvi,
which in connection with that of Billing occur in the list
of the beings created by Mimer and Durinn. It is mani-
fest that Varna vidr, where the wolf Skoll is obliged to
turn back from his pursuit of Sol, and that Varins vik,
where the moon's pursuer Hate is conquered, were con-
ceived in the mythology as situated in the western hori-
zon, since the sun and the moon making their journey
from the east to west on the heavens are pursued and are
not safe before they reach the western halls. And now
as Billing dwells in the western halls and is remembered
in the Anglo-Saxon mythic fragments as the prince of
23 699
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
the Varnians or Varinians, and as, furthermore, Varins-
fjordr and Varinsey are connected with adventures in
which there occur several names of mythic persons be-
longing to Billing's clan, then this proves absolutely an
original mythic connection between Billing and his west-
ern halls and those western halls in whose regions Varna,
vidr and Varinsvik are situated, and where the divinities
of light, their journey athwart the sky accomplished, find
defenders and can take their rest. And when we add
to this that Delling, Mimer's kinsman and eastern neigh-
bour, is the lord of morning and the rosy dawn, and that
Billing is Mimer's kinsman and western neighbour, then
it follows that Billing, from the standpoint of a symbol
of nature, represents the evening and the glow of twi-
light, and that in the epic he is ruler of those regions
of the world where the divinities of light find rest and
peace. The description which the Havamal strophes
(97-101) give us of life in Billing's halls corresponds
most perfectly with this view. Through the epic pre-
sentation there gleams, as it seems, a conscious symbolis-
ing of nature, which paints to the fancy the play of col-
ours in the west when the sun is set. When eventide
comes Billing's lass, "the sun-glittering one," sleeps on
her bed (Billings mey ec fann bedjwm a solhvita sofa —
str. 97). In his halls Billing has a body-guard of war-
riors, his saldrott, vigdrott (str. 100, 101), in whom we
must recognise those Varnians who protect the divinities
of light that come to his dwelling, and these warriors
watch far into the night, "with burning lights and with
torches in their hands," over the slumbering "sun-white"
700
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
maiden. But when day breaks their services are no
longer necessary. Then they in their turn go to sleep
(Oc n<zr morni . . Jhd var saldrott um sofin — str. 101).
When the Asas — all on horseback excepting Thor —
on their daily journey to the thingstead near Urd's foun-
tain, have reached the southern rune-risted bridge-head
of Bifrost, they turn to the north and ride through a
southern Hel-gate into the lower world proper. Here,
in the south, and far below Jormungrund's southern zone,
we must conceive those "deep dales" where the fire-giant
Surt dwells with his race, Suttung's sons (not Muspel's
sons) . The idea presented in Gylfaginning's cosmogony,
according to which there was a world of fire in the south
and a world of cold in the north of that Ginungagap in
which the world was formed, is certainly a genuine myth,
resting on a view of nature which the very geographical
position forced upon the Teutons. Both these border
realms afterwards find their representatives in the or-
ganised world : the fire-world in Surfs Sokkdalir, and the
frost-world in the Nifelhel incorporated with the escha-
tological places; and as the latter constitutes the north-
ern part of the realm of death, we may in analogy here-
with refer the dales of Surt and Suttung's sons to the
south, and we may do this without fear of error, for
Voluspa (50) states positively that Surt and his de-
scendants come from the south to the Ragnarok conflict
(Surtr fer sunan med sviga Icefi). While the northern
bridge-head of Bifrost is threatened by the rimthurses,
the southern is exposed to attacks from Suttung's sons.
In Ragnarok the gods have to meet storms from both
701
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
quarters, and we must conceive the conflict as extending
along Jormungrund's outer zone and especially near both
ends of the Bi frost bridge. The plain around the south
end of Bifrost where the gods are to "mix the liquor of
the sword with Surt" is called Oskopnir in a part of a
heathen poem incorporated with Fafnersmal. Here
Frey with his hosts of einherjes meets Surt and Sut-
tung's sons, and falls by the sword which once was his,
after the arch of Bifrost on this side is already broken
under the weight of the hosts of riders (Fafnersmal, 14,
15; Voluspa, 51). Oskopnir's plain must therefore be
referred to the south end of Bifrost and outside of the
southern Hel-gate of the lower world. The plain is also
called Vigridr (Vafthrudnersmal, 18), and is said to be
one hundred rasts long each way. As the gods who here
appear in the conflict are called in svaso god, "the sweet,"
and as Frey falls in the battle, those who here go to meet
Surt and his people seem to be particularly Vana-gods
and Vans, while those who contend with the giants and
with Loke's progeny are chiefly Asas.
When the gods have ridden through the southern
Hel-gate, there lie before them magnificent regions over
which Urd in particular rules, and which together with
Mimer's domain constitute the realms of bliss in the lower
world with abodes for departed children and women,
and for men who were not chosen on the field of battle.
Rivers flowing from Hvergelmer flow through Urd's
domain after they have traversed Mimer's realm. The
way leads the gods to the fountain of the norns, which
waters the southern root of the world-tree, and over
702
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
which Ygdrasil's lower branches spread their ever-green
leaves, shading the gold-clad fountain, where swans swim
and whose waters give the whitest colour to everything
'that comes in contact therewith. In the vicinity of this
fountain are the thingstead with judgment-seats, a tribu-
nal, and benches for the hosts of people who daily arrive
to be blessed or damned.
These hosts enter through the Hel-gate of the east.
They traverse deep and dark valleys, and come to a thorn-
grown plain against whose pricks Hel-shoes protect those
who were merciful in their life on earth, and thence to
the river mixed with blood, which in its eddies whirls
weapons and must be waded over by the wicked, but
can be crossed by the good on the drift-wood which floats
on the river. When this river is crossed the way of the
dead leads southward to the thingstead of the gods.
Further up there is a golden bridge across the river to
the glorious realm where Mimer's holt and the glittering
halls are situated, in which Balder and the dsmegir await
the regeneration. Many streams come from Hvergel-
mer, among them Leiptr, on whose waters holy oaths
are taken, and cast their coils around these protected
places, whence sorrow, aging, and death are banished.
The halls are situated in the eastern part of Mimer's
realm in the domain of the elf of the rosy dawn, for he is
their watchman.
Further down in Mimer's land and under the middle
root of the world-tree is the well of creative force and of
inspiration, and near it are Mimer's own golden halls.
Through this middle part of the lower world goes from
703
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
west to east the road which Nat, Dag, Sol, and Mane
travel from Billing's domain to Delling's. When the
mother Nat whose car is drawn by Hrimfaxi makes her
entrance through the western Hel-gate, darkness is dif-
fused along her course over the regions of bliss and ac-
companies her chariot to the north, where the hall of Sin-
dre, the great artist, is located, and toward the Nida
mountains, at whose southern foot Nat takes her rest in
her own home. Then those who dwell in the northern
regions of Jormungrund retire to rest (Forspjallsljod,
25) ; but on the outer rim of Midgard there is life and ac-
tivity, for there Dag's and Sol's cars then diffuse light
and splendour on land and sea. The hall of Sindre's
race has a special peculiarity. It is, as shall be shown
below, the prototype of "the sleeping castle" mentioned
in the sagas of the middle ages.
Over the Nida mountains and the lands beyond them
we find Ygdrasil's third root, watered by the Hvergelmer
fountain, the mother of all waters. The Nida mountains
constitute Jormungrund's great watershed, from which
rivers rush down to the south and to the north. In
Hvergelmer's fountain and above it the world-mill is
built through whose mill-stone eye water rushes up and
down, causing the maelstrom and ebb and flood tide, and
scattering the meal of the mill over the bottom of the
sea. Nine giantesses march along the outer edge of the
world pushing the mill-handle before them, while the
mill and the starry heavens at the same time are re-
volved.
Where the Elivagar rivers rise out of Hvergelmer,
704
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
and on the southern strand of the mythic Gandvik, is
found a region which, after one of its inhabitants, is called
He's pasture (setr — Younger Bdda, i. 292). Here
dwells warriors of mixed elf and giant blood (see the
treatise on the Ivalde race), who received from the gods
the task of being a guard of protection against the neigh-
bouring giant-world.
Farther toward the north rise the Nida mountains and
form the steep wall which constitutes Nifelhel's southern
boundary. In this wall are the Na-gates, through which
the damned when they have died their second death are
brought into the realm of torture, whose ruler is Leikinn.
Nifelheim is inhabited by the spirits of the primeval
giants, by the spirits of disease, and by giants who have
fallen in conflict with the gods. Under Nifelhel extend
the enormous caves in which the various kinds of crimi-
nals are tortured. In one of these caves is the torture
hall of the Nastrands. Outside of its northern door is a
grotto guarded by swarthy elves. The door opens to
Armsvartner's sea, over which eternal darkness broods.
In this sea lies the Lyngve-holm, within whose jurisdic-
tion Loke, Fenrer, and "Muspel's sons" are fettered.
Somewhere in the same region Bifrost descends to its
well fortified northern bridge-head. The citadel is called
Himinbjdrg, "the defence or rampart of heaven." Its
chieftain is Heimdal.
While Bifrost's arch stands in a direction from north
to south, the way on which Mane and Sol travel across
the heavens goes from east to west. Mane's way is be-
low Asgard.
705
TEUTONIC MYTHOLOGY
The movable starry heaven is not the only, nor is it
the highest, canopy stretched over all that has been men-
tioned above. One can go so far to the north that even
the horizon of the starry heavens is left in the rear.
Outside, the heavens Andlanger and Vidblainn support
their edges against Jormungrund (Gylfag., 17). All
this creation is supported by the world-tree, on whose
topmost bough the cock Vidofner glitters.
(Continuation of Part IV in Volume II L)
706
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